Portland man gets 1.5 years for rape of child

A Portland man was sentenced Tuesday to 1.5 years in prison for raping a 14-year-old Vancouver girl whom he had met through a mobile app.

Sean William Clark, 46, previously pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to third-degree rape of a child in connection with the May 6 incident in the Sunnyside neighborhood. Deputy Prosecutor Erin Culver said Clark also pleaded guilty to felony harassment as part of an in re barr plea, which allows a defendant to plead guilty to a lesser related charge they didn’t commit in order to avoid conviction for a greater offense.

Clark had no prior felony criminal history.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Clark County Sheriff’s Deputy Tom Maxfield came across a parked vehicle shortly after 11 p.m. in the 9700 block of Northeast 76th Street. He said the vehicle’s windows were foggy, and he could see movement inside. Maxfield said he assumed the occupants were having sex, so he announced himself and gave them about 20 seconds to get dressed.

Maxfield said he was expecting the occupants to be teenagers but was surprised when the male appeared to be much older. The man said he was 38. The officer asked him why he wasn’t in a hotel, and he said, “I’m sorry, but I’m married,” the affidavit said.

Maxfield then asked the female to look up at him so he could question her. He said he was “shocked” to see that she looked to be about 12 years old. She told him she was 14. Clark said the girl told him she was 18, court records show.

The girl said she met Clark on a social media app called Whisper, and that he came and picked her up down the street from her house, according to court documents.

On Tuesday, Clark apologized to the victim and her parents and said he hopes one day they can forgive him. “The responsibility is mine and mine alone,” he said of the incident.

His attorney, Jack Green, asked the court to allow Clark to have computer and Internet access once he’s released from prison. He will need it for his job, Green said. He also asked that Clark be able to have contact with his 9-year-old daughter.

Judge David Gregerson agreed to Clark having contact with his daughter, but said the court can review whether he should have Internet access at a later date.

He sentenced Clark to the attorneys’ previously agreed-upon sentencing recommendation of 18 months and 36 months of community custody. Clark is not to have contact with minors and must register as a sex offender.