BENTONVILLE — A Gentry man was sentenced to 22 years in prison after admitting to raping a girl.

Nolan Sidney Biesanz Jr., 39, was charged with two counts of rape, a class Y felony punishable with a sentence ranging from 10 to 40 years or life in prison. He pleaded guilty under a plea agreement attorney Tim Weaver reached with Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Stuart Cearley.

Biesanz pleaded guilty to one count of rape, but entered a no-contest plea to the other count.

His arrest is the result of an incident that occurredduring a New Year's Day party. According to court documents, twogirls claim that Biesanz raped them during a party.

The girls were interviewed at the Children's Advocacy Center of Benton County and said they were served alcohol, played strip poker and that Biesanz later raped them, according to court documents.

Cearley told Judge Robin Green that the victims were in favor of the plea agreements.

Green accepted the plea agreement and Biesanz's guilty plea.

Biesanz was sentenced to 22 years in prison and must serve 70 percent of that sentence before he is eligible for parole. After his release from prison, Biesanz must abide by a suspended-sentence agreement for 18 years.

He must also register as a sex offender, enroll in and complete the prison's sex-offender treatment program and pay $1,670 in court-associated costs.

Biesanz was ordered not to have any contact with the two girls and not to have any unsupervised contact with any minors.

Biesanz's wife, Melissa, is charged with permitting the abuse of a minor, a class B felony punishable with a prison sentence ranging from five to 20 years. She is accused of failing to take action to prevent the abuse of the minors.

She previously pleaded not guilty to the charge, and her case has not been resolved. She is being held in Benton County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bond.

News, Pages 6 on 09/30/2009