The Kenai Courthouse as seen on Monday, July 3, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

The Kenai Courthouse as seen on Monday, July 3, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Clam Gulch resident convicted of 60 counts for sexual abuse of a minor

The conviction came at the end of a three-week trial at the Kenai Courthouse

Jess Clucas, a 47-year-old Clam Gulch resident, was convicted Tuesday of 60 felony charges related to sexually abusing minors over a 15-year period.

According to a release from the State Department of Law, the conviction came at the end of a three-week trial at the Kenai Courthouse. Court information says that Clucas was first arraigned in May 2019, but the initial charging documents were not available at the courthouse on Wednesday.

Evidence presented at trial, the release says, showed that Clucas molested three minors beginning “as early as 2003” on “a daily, or nearly daily, basis.”

Clucas is convicted of 16 counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor, 28 counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, 13 counts of first-degree indecent exposure and three counts of incest.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 25, and the release says each of the 16 counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor carry a possible sentence of 25 to 35 years, with additional sentencing coming from the remaining 44 counts.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.

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