Alleged Oak Harbor rapist ‘sexted’ teen

An 18-year-old Oak Harbor man is accused of “sexting” an underaged girl and raping her at a home that police recently raided as part of a drug investigation, court documents indicate. Prosecutors charged Caleb Clark in Island County Superior Court June 19 with child molestation in the second degree and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. Detective Sgt. Teri Gardner with the Oak Harbor Police Department interviewed the 13-year-old victim earlier this month. The girl said that she and Clark had been sending each other sexually explicit messages.

An 18-year-old Oak Harbor man is accused of “sexting” an underaged girl and raping her at a home that police recently raided as part of a drug investigation, court documents indicate.

Prosecutors charged Caleb Clark in Island County Superior Court June 19 with child molestation in the second degree and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.

Detective Sgt. Teri Gardner with the Oak Harbor Police Department interviewed the 13-year-old victim earlier this month. The girl said that she and Clark had been sending each other sexually explicit messages.

In addition, Clark allegedly had sex with the girl at a home on NE Fourth Avenue in Oak Harbor. Clark, the alleged victim and her 14-year-old friend stayed overnight at the house in May.

The teenagers played strip poker, smoked marijuana and slept in the same bed together. Clark allegedly had sex with the younger girl and then groped the other girl, according to Gardner’s report.

The Oak Harbor police served a search warrant on the home earlier this month and found 14 people living inside the house, in a camper and a shed. Neighbors had complained about the noise, disturbances and traffic in and out of the residence. The city’s code enforcement officer deemed the home unsafe to occupy because of a raw sewage leak and excessive trash.

The woman who owns the house was arrested on suspicion of keeping a building for drug purposes.

Gardner wrote in her report that she interviewed Clark over the phone. He allegedly admitted having sex with the girl and knowing that both girls go to middle school.

Island County Superior Court Judge Vickie Churchill set Clark’s bail at $5,000 on June 15. If convicted of the charges against him, Clark could face from a year and three months to a year and eight months in prison under the standard sentencing range.