PARAGOULD, Ark. — A Paragould suspect has been arrested after investigators say DNA evidence connected him to the reported rape of a 12-year-old in 2023.
According to a probable cause affidavit from the Paragould Police Department, officers were dispatched Oct. 14, 2023, to the 800 block of Northwood Drive regarding a sexual assault report. Parents of the alleged victim told officers their child disclosed that an unknown male took them into nearby woods and sexually assaulted them near their home.
The alleged victim and witnesses were interviewed at the Paragould Police Station. An investigator with the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division later conducted a forensic interview with the alleged victim.
During that interview, the alleged victim reported being forcibly raped by an unknown male at gunpoint. A sexual assault kit was collected by a medical professional and transported to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory for analysis.
On Feb. 1, 2024, the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory notified the Paragould Police Department that male DNA had been located on the sexual assault kit. The DNA profile was submitted to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), but no matches were found.
Investigators later pursued forensic genetic genealogy testing. On May 7, 2025, the sexual assault kit was sent to Othram Laboratory in The Woodlands, Texas, for forensic genetic genealogy testing. According to the affidavit, the lab provided results to detectives on Feb. 9, 2026, identifying presumed DNA belonging to potential defendant Steven Bearden.
On Feb. 10, 2026, Paragould detectives obtained a search warrant to collect DNA swabs from Bearden. During a Mirandized interview, the defendant confirmed he lived a couple hundred feet from where the incident took place but denied having inappropriate contact with children in the neighborhood.
Detectives collected DNA samples from the defendant and submitted them to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory the following day.
On March 5, 2026, the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory notified investigators that the results confirmed the male DNA from the sexual assault kit belonged to Steven Bearden.
Steven Bearden, 47, was arrested and charged with rape and kidnapping, both Class Y felonies, and aggravated assault, a Class D felony.
Judge Curtis Hitt set bail at $1.5 million.
All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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