Jury convicts Hope man of Rape

HOPE – A Hempstead County Jury convicted a Hope man Wednesday, July 31st of Rape and Exposing Another Person to the HIV Virus, after a three-day trial.

Terry Michael Wesley, 33 of Hope was arrested on New Year’s Day 2023 for the incident and has remained in custody since that time.

The jury, having found Wesley guilty of both charges, affixed his sentence at sixty years for Rape and fifty years for Exposing Another Person to HIV.  The sentences were ordered to be served consecutively. Wesley will be eligible for parole after serving approximately fifty-four years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections.

The case was investigated by the Hope Police Department and prosecuted by the 8th Judicial District North Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Ben Hale and Jim Burke. The Honorable Judge Duncan Culpepper presided over the case.