An Arkadelphia man accused of raping two juveniles numerous times over a period of three years will be tried in Clark County in September after a mental evaluation is performed.
Wayne Frederick Poland, 65, was charged in 2003 with 40 counts of rape and 20 counts of possession of child pornography after a 14-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy told police that Poland had raped them repeatedly.
He was arrested in October 2003 and his trial was continued until November 2004. He fled, however, and remained at large until authorities captured him in May 2007 at an RV park in Alabama.
Poland went before Circuit Judge William Randal Wright of Hope in the Clark County Circuit Courtroom Tuesday morning via closed-circuit television. His attorney, David Cannon, of Little Rock, filed a motion of continuance Monday, April 6, for Poland to receive a mental health evaluation.
After five minutes of conversing with Poland and Cannon, Wright granted the continuance and set the trial date for Sept. 15.
The trial was set for September 2008, but former Circuit Judge John Thomas recused the case. Wright took over the case and the trial was set for November, but a switch in defense attorneys delayed trial again. Brian Trubitt, public defender, was representing Poland before the case was passed on to Cannon.
Poland’s co-defendant in the case, Jacquelyne Velcoff, was convicted in 2007 of 20 counts of rape and is serving a term of 24 years in prison. Velcoff is the mother of the two children who were raped. Poland allegedly paid Velcoff for sexual acts with her and her children, according to an affidavit.
Poland is being held in the Clark County Jail without bail until his trial.
