Ronald Springer v. State of Arkansas

── Ronald Springer v. State of Arkansas ── Court: Court of Appeals of Arkansas Date: April 08, 2026 Category: General Cite as 2026 Ark. App. 217 ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION II No. CR-25-90 RONALD SPRINGER Opinion Delivered April 8, 2026 APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE BENTON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT V. [NO. 04CR-03-280] STATE OF ARKANSAS HONORABLE ROBIN F. GREEN, APPELLEE JUDGE AFFIRMED BART F. VIRDEN, Judge Ronald Springer appeals the circuit court’s denial of his petition to terminate his obligation to register as a sex offender. We affirm. I. Relevant Facts Springer pleaded guilty to sexual indecency with a child, and the plea was entered October 3, 2003. On December 22, after a sixty-day commitment, Springer was released on probation for three years. Springer registered as a sex offender as ordered, and in 2006, he underwent a Sex Offender Community Notification Assessment (SOCNA). The Sex Offender Assessment Committee (Committee) assigned Springer a Level 3 community- notification status. Springer challenged the assessment, and the circuit court upheld the Committee’s decision.  On February 26, 2020, Springer filed a petition to terminate the registration requirement. The petition was not addressed by the court. In July 2021, Springer underwent a new SOCNA. The 2021 SOCNA report includes the initial 2006 SOCNA report’s description of the events that led to his conviction. The 2006 report sets forth that in 2002, MV reported that her father, Springer, masturbated in front of her. She stated that it happened when she and Springer were watching television together after her mother and her brothers had gone to bed. The furniture in their living room was arranged such that MV and her father were visible to each other when this happened. She described multiple instances during which Springer masturbated in her presence. Each time Springer wore a robe that was open, except once when he wore elastic- waist pants that he pulled down. In the interview, MV described in detail Springer’s sexual act as well as the appearance of his penis. MV also disclosed that on two occasions, when Springer was rubbing Ben-Gay on her sore legs he put his finger under her shorts and underwear and rubbed around her genital area without penetrating her labia or vagina. MV told her mother, Kay, that her father masturbated in front of her five times, the most recent time being within the last two to three weeks. Kay confronted Springer, and he initially claimed that around five months earlier, MV had walked in on him while he was masturbating, and the exposure was not intentional. A few days later, Springer disclosed to a mental-health-assessment officer that he masturbated where he knew MV could see him, and he believed that he had a sex addiction. Springer reported that he began thinking of his 2 daughter in a sexual way when she was around age eleven, which is when he and Kay began teaching MV about sex. He explained that MV “had begun to turn into a woman.” The 2006 SOCNA report also included the “OFFENDER VERSION” of the events. Springer stated to the assessor that he began offending against MV when she walked in on him while he was masturbating in the bathroom, and this was probably a triggering event. He began looking on the internet for advice on how to talk to children about sex. Springer explained that he ignored advice not to volunteer information “and focused on the articles that said what he wanted them to say in order to justify the sex act.” Springer admitted