A jury in Sedgwick County has found a 35-year-old man from Wichita guilty on 18 counts related to the kidnapping and sexual abuse of an underage girl from Arkansas, whom he kept in his bedroom for over a month while her family searched for her.
On December 14, 2022, authorities in Wichita discovered the girl hidden in David Roark’s closet, a place where he confined the teen during his absences to keep her out of sight. A young girl reported to authorities that she encountered Roark on a gaming platform known as IMVU, where he initiated conversations regarding her character in the game before requesting her phone number.
He misrepresented his age, claiming to be 17, and expressed a desire to begin a romantic relationship, as stated in a probable cause affidavit made public in the case. As their communication evolved into video calls, Roark consistently left his screen dark. He requested the girl to participate in intimate activities and share revealing images of herself.
Eventually, he grew possessive and would express anger if she wasn’t using her phone to reach out to him, according to the affidavit.
Roark devised a scheme to take the girl from her home in Arkansas to Wichita, driven by his desire for her to stay with him indefinitely, as stated in the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, it was only when she entered the car with him on November 12, 2022, that she understood he was not a 17-year-old boy. Roark was approximately double that age back then.
Upon returning to Roark’s residence, located in the 1800 block of North Litchfield, she found herself confined, forced to remain in his closet with minimal food and limited means for sanitation, while opportunities for bathing were infrequent. The affidavit states that she was compelled to engage in unprotected sexual activity as often as three times daily, as Roark was intent on making her pregnant in order to create a family. He purchased prenatal gummy vitamins for her and recorded some of their intimate moments.
The girl reported to authorities that when Roark was upset, he would “yell at her and deny her food” while he ate in her presence. At one point, he “yelled at her, seized her by the shoulders, and pushed her onto the bed,” leaving her terrified that he “might strike or slap her,” according to the affidavit.
She informed the authorities that she felt too frightened to make a call. Roark instructed her to reach out to anyone for assistance.
Authorities employed multiple methods to locate the girl and her abductor, utilizing IP addresses, surveillance footage from local businesses, and credit card activity.
When authorities discovered the girl hidden beneath a blanket in a closet, the stench of urine was overwhelming. She had been missing and residing at Roark’s home for over a month.
Authorities have reported that she was eventually brought back together with her family, who had been looking for her. Roark faces serious allegations, including one count of kidnapping, one count of child abuse, two counts of criminal sodomy, five counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, and nine counts of sexual exploitation of a child. After deliberating for under three hours on Monday, jurors reached a unanimous verdict of guilty on all counts, according to Dan Dillon, spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.
The proceedings commenced on September 23. In the recent trial, it was revealed by prosecutors that Roark had previously engaged in sexual contact with a minor. In 2018, at approximately 30 years old, he manipulated a 15-year-old girl from Kentucky, whom he encountered through social media, into engaging in sexual acts in return for marijuana, based on testimony that jurors were prohibited from hearing. A police sergeant from Kentucky and a forensic biologist provided testimony indicating that Roark’s DNA was detected on the girl, leading to the presentation of the investigation for charges.
However, the girl and her father chose not to travel to Kansas to provide in-person testimony regarding the incident, and Roark’s defense attorney raised objections to a sexual assault nurse recounting the girl’s story in the third person, resulting in jurors missing out on numerous details from the Kentucky case.
Roark chose not to testify, and his attorney refrained from submitting any evidence for the jury’s consideration. Sentencing is set for November 18. Several of his convictions come with a likely sentence of life behind bars. The remaining individuals face potential sentences ranging from 55 to 247 months or 31 to 136 months.
Judge Jeff Syrios of the Sedgwick County District Court oversaw the trial proceedings.