Doctor receives 110-year prison sentence for abuse of a minor
- Dignity 4Patients
- Dec 5, 2025
- 2 min read
By Alex Kienlen- 05/12/2025- Kark- [Arkansas, US]- [Ladaryl M. Lankford]
FORT SMITH, Ark. – Court records show a former family physician in Fort Smith received a 110-year sentence in the Arkansas Department of Corrections on Wednesday after pleading guilty to abuse of a minor and related charges.
Records show 46-year-old Ladaryl M. Lankford pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual assault and one count of introducing a controlled substance into the body of another for a sex offense and three additional charges. The sentences for each abuse charge are to run consecutively, meaning his prison term will not end for 110 years.
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The assaults took place between Jan. 1, 2016, and March 30, when the victim came forward to police, officials said.
Lankford also received a 15-year suspended sentence, which will act as a probationary period following his prison term, according to court officials. He is required to register as a sex offender as part of his sentence.
Lankford was arrested by Fort Smith police in April following an investigation. The request for an affidavit filed by the prosecutor states that investigators found evidence of Lankford assaulting the sleeping victim, using hidden cameras in bathrooms to record the minor, and creating child sexual abuse material from the captured images.
Ladaryl M. Lankford (courtesy Fort Smith police, Sebastian County Detention Center)
The controlled substance charge came from his giving the minor victim a powerful sleeping pill to facilitate molestation, according to the investigator’s report.
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Arkansas State Medical Board records show Lankford’s physician’s license was suspended in May, weeks after his arrest.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article and were abused in state run medical and health facilities, you can contact Dignity4Patients, whose helpline is open Monday to Thursday, 10am to 4pm.
Dignity4Patients Commentary: The use of consecutive sentences in cases like this illustrates how the justice system can respond decisively when trust is weaponized, ensuring that punishment reflects not just the crime, but the pattern behind it.
