"Jane" CLARKE - 7 months - Monticello NY

The father accused of abandoning his 7-month-old
daughter in the woods on July 4 near Walmart now faces charges that he
sexually abused her and then left her to die.


Cory Clarke, 27, of Monticello, was indicted Wednesday by a Sullivan County
grand jury on charges of second-degree attempted murder, first-degree
criminal sexual act, first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree incest,
second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and abandonment of a
child, all felonies, and endangering the welfare of a child, a
misdemeanor.
He is accused of abusing the baby on July 3 at his home at 3 Mill St. in Monticello.
Authorities say on July 4, he dumped the baby in a grassy, wooded area near an
abandoned bungalow colony on Lanahan Road, where she wouldn't be found.
Clarke reported her missing to a Walmart worker at 12:36 p.m. July 4. She was
found alive by a state trooper five hours later, lying face down in mud
and tall grass, wearing a shirt, and no diaper or pants. She was about
75 feet off the road and 150 yards from Walmart.
Clarke is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Sullivan County Court.
"This case will proceed forward," said District Attorney Steve Lungen.
"It is the beginning of the case ... . If the allegations are true and if
they are established, this would be one of the most disturbing cases I
have dealt with in my career."
If convicted, Clarke faces a maximum sentence of five to 25 years in prison on each of the top charges, Lungen said.
Clarke, who had split up with the baby's mother, had just been awarded
visitation rights. Earlier that day, he was spotted on Route 42 pushing
the baby and her older brother in a stroller.
Authorities say Clarke concocted a story that he wheeled the stroller into a
bathroom at Walmart and the baby was snatched while he was changing her
brother. The older brother was not injured.
But while authorities were still searching for the baby, Clarke's story began to fall apart.

A father accused of sexually abusing his
7-month-old daughter and abandoning her in the woods pleaded not guilty
to attempted murder and felony sex abuse charges on Friday.
Cory Clarke, 27, of Monticello, appeared in Sullivan County Court for his
arraignment. He was brought from the Delaware County Jail in Delhi
where he is being held for his protection.
Clarke's attorney, Henri Shawn, entered not guilty pleas on charges of
second-degree murder, first-degree criminal sexual act, first-degree
sexual abuse, first-degree incest, second-degree assault, reckless
endangerment and abandonment of a child, felonies, and endangering the
welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.
Shackled at the wrists and legs, Clarke sat at a table going over court papers
with his attorney. He had to lean over the table to read the
indictment. His blond hair was slicked back. As he was led out, he
ducked his head into his chin to avoid cameras outside the courtroom.
Noting intense community interest in the case, Judge Frank LaBuda ordered
attorneys not to speak to the media and sealed most of the file.
“I don't want this in every front page of the newspaper,” LaBuda said.
“There is a key emotional issue here...We are not going to jeopardize a
defendant's right to a fair trial.”
Clarke will remain in jail on no bail.
LaBuda asked why Clarke was being held in Delaware County.
“He has been the subject of attacks in jail,” Shawn said.
Clarke is accused of abusing the baby on July 3 at his home on Mill Street in
Monticello. Authorities say on July 4 he dumped her in a grassy, wooded
area near an abandoned bungalow colony on Lanahan Road, where she would
not be found.
He reported her missing to a Walmart worker at 12:36 p.m. He told police that the baby was snatched
while he was changing her older brother.
She was found alive by a state trooper five hours later, lying face down in
the mud and grass, wearing a shirt and no diaper or pants, according to
court records.
LaBuda scheduled a status conference for Oct. 8.

The father accused of sexually abusing then
leaving his 7-month-old daughter to die in the woods near Walmart on
July 4 made incriminating comments to police even as they were still
searching for his child, an investigator said Wednesday in court.
State
police Investigator Brian Webster said that Cory Clarke showed no
emotion while police were frantically searching for his baby and during
a six-hour interview that night. He refused to submit a DNA sample and
allow investigators to search his Mill Street home in Monticello.
Police had to get a court order.
And Webster said when he informed Clarke that his baby had been found alive,
Clarke flatly said, "Oh, that's good."
Clarke, 27, who appeared for a pretrial hearing, is charged with second-degree
attempted murder, first-degree criminal sexual act, first-degree sexual
abuse, first-degree incest and second-degree assault, among other
charges.
Police say he sexually abused the child, then left her in the woods on
Lanahan Road about a 150 yards from Walmart. She was reported
missing around 12:30 p.m. and found five hours later face down in
the mud in tall grass near an abandoned bungalow, wearing only a top.
Webster said that Clarke's story was consistent throughout the day. He reported that
his baby was snatched from a double stroller. She was strapped in the
back seat, and her brother was in the front seat. Clarke claimed he
stopped in front of the McDonald's in the store and gave his daughter a
bottle and then closed the visor. He said he stopped to purchase a
teething ring and went to the bathroom, where he noticed she was
missing.
Webster said the store's surveillance tape revealed that Clarke never stopped to give a bottle.
He did purchase a teething ring and then went to the bathroom. The
surveillance tape could not determine if the girl was in the stroller
when he entered the Walmart because the visor was down, Webster said.
Officers were immediately suspicious because Clarke said the stroller was never
out of his arm's length and he claimed that the girl was buckled in the
entire time, making an abduction nearly impossible.
"He agreed it would be very difficult to accomplish," Webster said. "He
said, 'maybe she didn't make it to Walmart.' I said, 'where is she?' He
said, 'I don't know.'"

MONTICELLO — A Sullivan County jury took around an hour to convict Cory
Clarke of sexually abusing his 7-month old daughter and then leaving
her in the woods to die on July 4.
Clarke, 27, was convicted of
attempted murder, first-degree predatory sexual abuse on a child,
incest and other first-degree felony sex crimes.
Clarke reported
the baby missing to a Walmart employee. He maintained that the baby was
snatched while he was changing her brother in a bathroom.
District
Attorney Jim Farrell called Clarke's story preposterous, hammering home
in his closing statements that DNA evidence conclusively proved the
sexual assault and video cameras inside Walmart ruled out an abduction.
He told the jury that Clarke planned to dump the baby and concoct a
story to cover the sex abuse.
Farrell showed the jury a graphic
photo demonstrating damage done to the baby, and the baby's
blood-stained diaper. Clarke, who had visitation rights, had to return
the baby to the mother on the Monday after a weekend visit and would
have been discovered, Farrell said.
Clarke now faces a sentence of
10 years to life on the predatory sex assault charge and up to 25 years
for attempted murder. Farrell said he will argue for a consecutive
sentence that will keep Clarke in prison for life.
Clarke's
attorney Fred Neroni said that the Clarke could not have had time to
dump the baby some 80 feet into the woods, while also discarding her
pants and diaper, within a 13-minute period. Clarke had no trace of
dirt or grass on his shoes or clothing. “Whatever happened in those
woods, there is no trace of anything,” Neroni said. “They found nothing
on the defendant in this matter.”
Clarke showed a cool, demeanor while police were frantically searching for the baby, and his story kept changing, Farrell said.
When
confronted by a state trooper, Farrell said, Clarke admitted the child
“might not have made it to Walmart.” The baby was eventually located
hours later alive, face down in mud and high grass near an abandoned
bungalow colony.
Her cries could not be heard from the road,”
Farrell said. “He never meant for her to be found. He absolutely meant
for her to die.”

A JUDGE has called a New York man
"evil incarnate" before sentencing him to serve 50 years to life for
sexually assaulting his six-month-old daughter and dumping her in the
woods.




Cory Clarke was ordered to serve a maximum 25 years for attempted
murder and a maximum 25 years to life for predatory sexual assault
against a child, the two most serious charges of which he was found
guilty in March.The sentences must be served consecutively,
meaning Clarke, 28, will not be eligible for parole until he turns 78.
He was also sentenced on other charges for sexual crimes and child
endangerment.“On that day, you lost your humanity and you became
evil incarnate,” Judge Frank LaBuda said.“This was a vicious,
evil act committed beyond the pale of reason or explanation.”Clarke,
who had just been awarded visitation rights to his daughter, left her
in a forest near the Wal-Mart in Monticello, about 90 miles from New York
City, on July 4 2009. He then reported the baby as missing to Wal-Mart
employees.He told employees and police investigators he left his daughter
outside a bathroom while he changed her brother’s diaper and returned to
find her gone.Five hours later, the infant was found alive in a
wooded area about 150 yards from the store, lying face down in mud and grass
with no diaper or pants.Clarke was eventually accused of abusing
the baby on July 3 at his home in Monticello.Prosecutors said he
dumped the baby and concocted the kidnapping story to hide the abuse.“He
should have been her protector, her shield from the evils of the
outside world, but instead he became her assaulter, her abuser,"
District Attorney Jim Farrell said.Fred Neroni, Clarke’s
attorney, would not comment after the sentencing but vowed to file an
appeal within 30 days.The baby’s mother did not attend the
sentencing.