Kristopher Lee Vickroy v. State of Arkansas

── Kristopher Lee Vickroy v. State of Arkansas ── Court: Court of Appeals of Arkansas Date: April 29, 2026 Category: General Cite as 2026 Ark. App. 260 ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION III No. CR-25-597 KRISTOPHER LEE VICKROY Opinion Delivered April 29, 2026 APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE VAN BUREN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT V. [NO. 71CR-23-110] STATE OF ARKANSAS HONORABLE H.G. FOSTER, JUDGE APPELLEE AFFIRMED CASEY R. TUCKER, Judge A Van Buren County Circuit Court jury convicted appellant Kristopher Vickroy of rape. On appeal, he asserts that the circuit court erred in admitting the testimony of a nonvictim child witness (MV2) under the pedophile exception to Arkansas Rule of Evidence 404(b). In a subpoint, Vickroy argues that the admission of the nonvictim child witness’s testimony violated Arkansas Rule of Evidence 403 due to unfair prejudice. We affirm. I. Factual Background On September 14, 2023, the State charged Vickroy with rape pursuant Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-14-103 (Supp. 2023), alleging that he engaged in sexual intercourse or deviate sexual activity with another person who was under the age of fourteen by forcible compulsion. The State later amended the information to allege that Vickroy violated Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-14-103(a)(3)(A) in that on September 4, 2023, he engaged in deviate sexual activity with a minor victim (MV1), a person less than fourteen years of age, thereby committing the offense of rape. The case proceeded to trial on April 22, 2025. The evidence at trial was that Vickroy was MV1’s older cousin (MV1’s mother is his first cousin). Vickroy was approximately twenty-five years older than MV1. In September 2023, when MV1 was eleven years old, several family members, including Vickroy, went on a family camping trip in Missouri. Vickroy drove MV1; his niece; and his niece’s friend, MV2, to their respective homes after the trip. After dropping off the other girls, Vickroy told MV1 that he needed to stop by his house in Fairfield Bay because he needed to use the restroom. After Vickroy went inside and did not return, MV1 entered the house to get a drink of water. While she was in the house, Vickroy called to her from his bedroom where he was lying on the bed and asked her to come into the bedroom. MV1 stated she did not want to, but Vickroy insisted, so she went into his bedroom. He then pulled her onto the bed with him and proceeded to put his hand inside her pants and digitally penetrate her vagina. MV1 testified that she was screaming at Vickroy to stop and get off of her. He stopped when she kicked him, and MV1 ran out of the house and returned to his truck. Once he was inside the truck, Vickroy offered MV1 money in exchange for her silence. He told her that if she told anyone what he had done it would ruin his life. MV1 asked Vickroy to take her home. On their way from Fairfield Bay to the Vilonia area, they drove past MV1’s grandmother’s house in Clinton. Vickroy refused MV1’s request to take her to her grandmother. MV1 began texting her mother, asking for help. She told her that 2 Vickroy had touched her inappropriately and that she was scared. Her mother instructed her to act normal and just get home. When she arrived home, MV1 went to her mother’s bedroom, crawled into her mother’s bed, and cried. After MV1 told her mother what had happened in more detail, MV1’s mother contacted Vickroy through Facebook Messenger. He denied that he had done anything to MV1, claiming he had accidentally touched her breast while they were playing. MV1’s m