Welland man convicted of 10 sex-related offences

A Welland man who claimed he rescued street kids and helped them to get off drugs and return to school has been convicted of sexually assaulting five youths dating back more than 25 years.

In an Ontario Court of Justice in Welland on Wednesday, Judge Tory Colvin said James Allen Clark, 65, preyed on disadvantaged youths for his own sexual gratification.

“He used their vulnerability,” the judge said, before finding the defendant guilty of 10 sex-related offences. Clark will return to court Jan. 4, 2018 for sentencing.

The judge said the defendant would inject the teens, some as young as 14, with drugs and then “each was treated as a sex object.”

While each complainant had credibility issues, the judge said he believed their testimony, saying the gaps in their memories are likely due to their heavy drug use at the time of the incidents.

The men, now ranging in age from mid-30s to early 40s, testified they became addicted to drugs through their association with Clark. While they consented to being injected which narcotics, they insisted they never consented to being molested and raped.

In one case, the victim said he became paralysed after being injected at a Niagara Falls motel room. He testified he was incapacitated but was aware he was being sodomized.

Clark adamantly denied sexually assaulting the teens, saying the group was “out to get him.”

He said he tried his best to help the boys, some of whom were homeless at the time, to kick their drug habits and return to school.

He said he had no interest is engaging in same sex activities and was in love with his girlfriend.

The five complainants testified at trial that Clark would befriend them, buy them presents such as clothing, and give them drugs including cocaine and speed. The incidents occurred in Welland, Niagara Falls, Wainfleet and Hamilton during the 1990s.

One victim described Clark as a father figure, a man who taught him how to ride a bike and took him fishing. That father figure role ended, he said, when the man began to molest him.

Many of the complainants would later turn to crime in order to fuel their drug addictions. All but one of the men have criminal records.

The defendant admitted he use to sell drugs, mostly cocaine, but said he never gave the teenagers any narcotics. Clark was originally arrested in November 2014 and charged with a number of sex offences. More charges were laid in early 2015 after additional victims stepped forward.