Jess Clucas, a 48-year-old Clam Gulch resident, was sentenced Monday, Nov. 25, to 271 years for 60 felony counts of sexual abuse of minors.
According to a release from the State Department of Law, the sentencing was held at the Kenai Courthouse in a “packed” courtroom. Superior Court Judge Jason Gist imposed sentencing for “each individual charge in a hearing that lasted more than three and a half hours,” the release reads.
According to previous Clarion reporting and an April release from the department, Clucas was convicted of the charges after a three-week trial at the Kenai Courthouse this spring.
Evidence presented at trial, the April release says, showed that Clucas molested three minors beginning “as early as 2003” on “a daily, or nearly daily, basis.”
Clucas was 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.
Charging documents from the time of Clucas’ arrest filed May 2, 2019, say that Alaska State Troopers received a report about his conduct on Aug. 17, 2018 — and investigation stretched nearly eight months before he was interviewed by police on April 4, 2019, and subsequently arrested.
The November release says that, in addition to the 271 years in prison, Clucas was sentenced to 105 years of suspended jail time, 25 years probation and lifetime registration as a sex offender, without eligibility for parole.
According to the release, because Clucas was convicted of 16 counts of the highest-level sexual felony offenses under Alaska law, he is not eligible for discretionary or mandatory parole on those offenses.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
