Jackson man accused of molestation also faces charges in Arkansas

A Jackson man facing child molestation charges in Cape Girardeau County also is wanted by authorities in Arkansas to answer similar accusations there, according to court records.

Mark Hinklin

Mark A. Hinklin, 38, on March 1 was charg-ed with first-degree child molestation in a local case after allegations involving a girl younger than 14 came to light. The felony charge carries a possible penalty of up to 15 years in prison. A criminal setting, which sometimes signals a plea is in the works, is set for 11:30 a.m. before Judge Ben Lewis.

Hinklin has been held at the Cape Girardeau County Jail in lieu of a $100,000 bond since his arrest. His lawyer, assistant public defender Patti Tucka, could not be reached Sunday for comment.

The incident took place locally in 2010, prosecutors say. That's about the same time Hinklin moved to Jackson from Bee Branch, Ark., where authorities had taken an interest in him in a sex-abuse case involving an 8-year-old girl who lived with Hinklin and was related to him.

The girl, who now lives with her grandmother in Jackson, had been forced to perform sex acts on Hinklin during a two-year period starting in 2007, according to a probable-cause statement filed by Jeff Bittle, a detective with the Van Buren County Sheriff's Department. It is unclear if the victim from each state is the same girl.

But before Hinklin could be questioned, he left for Missouri, according to the Arkansas court filing. Hinklin remains on the Van Buren County Sheriff's Department's "most wanted" list and since has been charged with rape after the young victim had undergone a forensic interview that convinced prosecutors she was telling the truth.

When Bittle learned where Hinklin lived, he contacted Lt. Rodney Barnes of the Jackson Police Department. Barnes interviewed Hinklin and reported back to Bittle that Hinklin had denied the accusations. But Barnes also told Bittle, according to the documents, that he thought Bittle was lying.

Judge Lewis' courtroom will see several other cases throughout the day today:

Dalton Burns

Jacob Colyott

Travis Fornkohl

• One of the Cape Girardeau men charged in the stabbing of a 32-year-old area man will have a pretrial conference. Dalton W. Burns, 20, has a jury trial scheduled for Dec. 11. He faces a first-degree assault charge that carries a possible punishment of up to 30 years or life in prison if convicted. Burns' co-defendant, Prince D. Blair of New York, pleaded guilty Nov. 13 to a reduced charge of third-degree assault and is serving his yearlong sentence at the Cape Girardeau County Jail.
• Jacob Colyott, one of three Jackson men charged in a burglary spree during the summer, has a sentencing hearing before Lewis after pleading guilty last month to one count of first-degree burglary and one count of second-degree burglary.
• Also to be sentenced is Travis Fornkohl, who faces up to four years in prison after admitting he intentionally damaged private property in June at the Auburn Park Place building in Cape Girardeau. He opened a six-inch water line, causing $600,000 in damage to the building.

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