Disabled adult's caretaker charged with sexual abuse

A Post Falls man who takes care of developmentally disabled adults is accused of having sex with one of his clients.

Rex D. Clark is charged with sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult in both Kootenai and Bonner counties. The crime is punishable by up to 25 years in prison.

Clark waived a preliminary hearing on the Bonner County charge set for today and was bound over to District Court in Sandpoint for a Dec. 11 arraignment.

A hearing in Coeur d’Alene on the Kootenai County charge has not been set.

According to authorities, Clark had sexual encounters including oral sex and genital contact with a 38-year-old woman in his care over a two- to three-year period.

Clark, 55, and his wife take care of two vulnerable adults and are paid approximately $2,300 per month by the state for each of their clients.

The alleged victim reportedly told Clark’s wife of the affair in the Coeur d’Alene Buffalo Wild Wings parking lot after being reprimanded for an anger issue.

The woman said Clark would buy her food even if she misbehaved, and that “Clark is cheating on you,” according to a witness statement in court records.

The woman has the capacity of an eight-year-old, according to an adaptive behavioral test from the Idaho Dept. of Health and Welfare.

The confession led to an investigation by the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, which uncovered a series of sexual incidents between Clark and the woman, many of them occurring at a cabin that Clark owns at Kelso Lake near Athol.

During an interview with detectives, Clark referred to the sexual incidents as fondling, and told investigators that the sex was consensual, despite state law that precludes vulnerable adults from giving consent.

The incidents for which Clark is charged allegedly occurred between January and September, according to court records.