IRS agent accused of rape pleads not guilty
Investigators found saliva on the gun of an Internal Revenue Service agent that a college student-intern claims the agent shoved in her mouth while he raped and choked her in a parked car after a night of heavy drinking, prosecutors said.
James R. Clarke, 44, was released on personal recognizance yesterday by assistant Suffolk Superior Court Clerk-Magistrate Edward J. Curley and ordered not to leave Massachusetts. He pleaded not guilty to six indictments, including aggravated rape, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and strangulation.
Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Ian Polumbaum wanted Clarke held on $10,000 cash bail.
“He took her to his government-issued car in the Government Center garage down the street and once in the car he restrained her with handcuffs and he shoved his service weapon deep into her mouth and subjected her to several different sexual acts — most of them in the garage in the parked car, and one more at South Station,” Polumbaum told Curley.
The accuser “had a fresh injury ... at the back of the top of her throat when she was seen at the hospital,” Polumbaum said. “She also had injuries consistent with being handcuffed and with being grabbed by the neck.”
“The defendant is here,” Curley said in making his bail decision. “He knew what the charges are.”
Clarke has no criminal record. If convicted of even one count of aggravated rape with a firearm, he faces a mandatory 10-year prison sentence.
Polumbaum said the July 26 night of the assault started when Clarke, who was working as a federal agent for the IRS, took the student-intern out after work and “bought her enough drinks that she was intoxicated by the time they left.”
Clarke corroborated the sexual activity, Polumbaum said, but claimed “it was all consensual.”
As for the saliva on the gun, Polumbaum said Clarke told investigators “it possibly brushed against her face when he let her look at it and handle it.”
Clarke refused comment as he left the courthouse with his father.
Michael Doolin, Clarke’s attorney, declined to comment on his client’s duty status with the IRS. “These were consensual acts between consensual adults.” Doolin said. “He’s been completely cooperative with the police department throughout this. He’s an outstanding individual.”