Yavapai County Man Arrested In Connection With Sexual Abuse

A Yavapai County man was arrested recently after a male victim reported to Yavapai County Sheriff’s deputies that he was sexually assaulted by a suspect when he was young. Detectives performed a forensic interview on the victim who told detectives 65-year-old Mark Peyton from Dewey forced him to engage in multiple sex acts when he was between four and ten years old. When the victim reached ten-years-old, Peyton attempted to continue the assaults. The victim threatened Peyton with a pellet gun, telling him he would shoot him if he ever touched him again. He stopped the assault. Further investigation revealed Peyton had been arrested numerous times in Iowa for crimes of sexual assault and was a convicted sex offender there until 2006. Last Monday, Peyton was arrested and booked into the Yavapai County Jail in Prescott on multiple charges connected with assaults on the victim. He is being held on $150-thousand dollar bond.