Ex-custodian in Arkansas district arrested after rape allegations

A former school custodian in a northwest Arkansas district has been charged with rape involving a juvenile who was less than 14 years old, according to recent reports.

The custodian, Jackie Freeman, 56, had been employed by Fort Smith Public Schools, which enrolls nearly 14,000 students.

“A probable cause affidavit said that on March 4, the alleged victim called 911 and told officers that Freeman had engaged in sexual contact with them,” reported the local Fox affiliate. “The affidavit said the alleged abuse went on for several months starting in September 2025.”

Police responding to the 911 call transported the alleged victim to the Hamilton Center for Child Advocacy.

During the investigation, Freeman consented to giving a DNA sample. It matched a DNA swab taken from his accuser, the affiliate reported.

Freeman then resigned from his job at Kimmons Middle School “for personal reasons effective March 6,” according to the River Valley Democrat Gazette.

“Court documents say that Freeman has been ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim and their family,” the Fox affiliate noted. “Freeman is also prohibited from going to the residence or school of the alleged victim.”

‘Epidemic of sexual abuse’

As previously reported by Heartlander News, educational analysts such as attorney John Manly are calling out what they view as an “epidemic of sexual abuse” in public education.

“In the vast majority of cases we [have] the mandatory reporting statute is ignored, and schools investigate it themselves,” he said. “When institutions or people investigate themselves, my experience is they rarely find themselves guilty.”

As many as 17% of K-12 students will suffer sexual abuse from a school employee, Manly estimated.

While many of these cases involve teachers, other school positions – including bus drivers, custodians and coaches – have been listed in sexual abuse incidents involving minors.

“The one thing we should be doing is to protect children from this,” Manly argued. “There is an epidemic of sexual abuse in the state by teachers, by coaches, by other school employees.”

Although mandatory reporting could help reduce the number of such incidents, teachers’ unions often resist this practice, according to Manly.

“The unions know there is widespread non-reporting. What right-thinking person doesn’t want a teacher mandated by law to call the police when a little girl or a little boy is molested? That’s not only stupid policy but it’s frightening.”

Despite the risks, parents are still required under compulsory attendance laws to send their children to their local districts, Manly lamented.

“These parents in Title I schools, they don’t have any money for private school, they don’t have money for Catholic schools,” he said. “They’ve got to send their kid to the public school.”