Wichita man sentenced for kidnapping, sexually abusing girl he kept in closet
A Wichita man who kidnapped, sexually abused and forced an underage Arkansas girl to stay in his bedroom and closet for more than a month has been sentenced to life plus 10 years, two months in prison.
It was the maximum sentence David Roark could receive under Kansas law. He will be eligible for parole “only after he has served 35 years in prison,” a spokeswoman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office said.
The 37-year-old was convicted by a jury in September of 18 crimes, including child abuse, criminal sodomy, aggravated indecent liberties with a child and sexual exploitation of a child.
By the time Wichita police found the girl crouching under a blanket in Roark’s closet on Dec. 14, 2022, she’d been missing from her home for a month. Authorities have said Roark met the girl on a gaming application called IMVU and began messaging her about her character in the game before asking for her phone number.
He told the girl he was 17 and wanted to date her, but always kept his screen blank when they video chatted. Eventually, their messages turned sexual and he carried out a plan to pick her up from Arkansas and bring her to Wichita because he “wanted her to live with him forever,” a probable cause affidavit released by the court says.
When they got to Roark’s home in the 1800 block of North Litchfield, Roark told the girl she couldn’t leave, made her stay in his closet with only a little food and a cup or bucket to urinate in and rarely allowed her to shower.
He forced her to have unprotected sex up to three times a day, tried to get her pregnant, filmed some of the sex acts and verbally and physically assaulted her, the affidavit says.
Sedgwick County District Judge Jeff Syrios imposed the life sentence on Monday after denying a request for leniency from Roark’s lawyer, court records show. Roark pleaded not guilty to the charges before his September trial.
This story was originally published November 18, 2024 at 5:48 PM.
