EMMET – The Hempstead County Sheriff’s Office is announcing the arrest of 33-year-old James Ivey of Emmet, Arkansas, following a serious and disturbing investigation involving the alleged abuse of a four-year-old female child.
On Thursday, August 26, 2026, the child was brought to Southwest Arkansas Regional Hospital following a reported drowning. What initially appeared to be a drowning incident quickly became the subject of a much more serious criminal investigation.
Hempstead County Sheriff’s Office Investigators, working closely with Special Agents of the Arkansas State Police, immediately began examining the circumstances surrounding the child’s injuries. Through the course of their investigation, investigators uncovered evidence indicating that the child had been severely abused.
The child was transported by Pafford EMS to Arkansas Children’s Hospital, where she remains in critical condition.
As a result of the investigation, James Ivey, 33, of Emmet, Arkansas, was arrested by Hempstead County Investigators and charged with:
- Capital Rape
- Domestic Battering in the First Degree
- Unlawful Female Mutilation of a Minor
- Terroristic Threatening in the First Degree
Ivey is currently being held in the Hempstead County Detention Center pending his first appearance in court.
Sheriff’s Statement
Sheriff James A. Singleton stated:
“There is nothing more important to us than protecting the children of Hempstead County. The allegations uncovered during this investigation are extremely disturbing, and our investigators have worked diligently to determine exactly what happened to this innocent child.