Clarksville man deemed a "habitual offender" arrested out of prison for 2018 rape and sexual assault
A Clarksville man already in prison was arrested once again on Thursday for yet another felony, but this time around the charges are a little more serious in context.
Steven Kuakahela Jr., 38, of Clarksville has been sent to the Arkansas Department of Corrections at least twice on Felony drug and forgery convictions, not counting a 1999 ten year sentence for Aggravated Robbery.
On Thursday, he was arrested on a Johnson County warrant for Rape of a Child Under the Age of Fourteen and Sexual Assault in the Second Degree. The sexual interaction apparently happened in 2018 and the warrant for his arrest was issued in February of 202o.
According to court records, Kuakahela was already in prison in the Arkansas Department of Corrections and had to be transferred from the Randall L. Williams Corrctional Facility in Pine Bluff to answer to the charges. He was apparently transferred on Thursday then sent back to prison on Saturday as he was booked out of the Johnson County jail by 2:38 p.m.
The Class Y and Class B felonies, along with his previous convictions, puts Kuakahela in the habitual offender category.
Kuakahela is serving time for a 2019 conviction that saw him arrested after drug paraphernalia, a defaced gun and counterfeit money was found in his home during a routine parole supervision check. According to information from court documents, , several items of methamphetamine drug paraphernalia were found in the home, along with a handgun with the serial numbers removed. A stash of counterfeit money was also found.
His wife at the time, Leann Kuakahela was also arrested. The couple has since filed for a divorce, with Steven Kuakahela listed as the plaintiff.
Kuakahela was given 126 months to run concurrently with 108 of those months suspended at that time. He was convicted for Forgery, Drug Possession and Paraphernalia Possession charges. The new allegations could add some serious time to his prison stay is he is convicted under the Habitual Offender Act.
He also earned some additional time after his first Felony conviction in 1999 when he was found to be possession of a firearm in 2003 while incarcerated at the North Central Unit in Calico Rock.
