BENTONVILLE (KFSM) — A Rogers man on Wednesday (Sept. 12) pleaded not guilty to molesting three boys at a Bentonville daycare.
Nathan Jack Clemons, 24, is charged in Benton County Circuit Court with three counts of second-degree sexual assault, a Class B felony.
Clemons could face up to 60 years in prison if convicted on all three counts.
Clemons was arrested Aug. 23 for allegedly molesting a boy at the Mary’s Little Lambs Preschool on Moberly Lane. It was his third arrest stemming from similar allegations at the daycare.
Clemons had been arrested twice before, but bonded out each time. The daycare fired him within 24 hours of a parent notifying staff of the initial abuse allegation.
Clemons told Bentonville police he did massage one boy’s legs because he complained they were cold. He denied touching the boy inappropriately.
While investigating the allegations from the daycare, police discovered Clemons had complaints of inappropriate contact from children in Missouri and Kansas.
Clemons was accused of sending sexual messages to teenage boys in 2013 and 2014 while he was working at the Webb City School District in Webb City, Mo.
According to an arrest affidavit, Clemons left Webb City in September 2014 and took a job as a counselor at a boy’s ranch in Jasper County, Mo.
Clemons faced similar allegations of improper contact with the boys, who ranged from 10 to 18 years old and were at the ranch because of emotional and behavioral problems, according to the affidavit.
In February 2016, Clemons took a job at a school district in Galena, Kan., where he was accused of forming a relationship with a 6-year-old boy, as well as taking a picture of a child and sending it to a friend with a lewd comment attached.
Police later learned that Clemons had spoken to a friend about his attraction to children, saying he molested three minors — including a 4-month-old — while living near Joplin, Mo.
The friend said Clemons also mentioned his abusive nature is triggered around children because he was molested as a child.
Clemons was never arrested for the alleged incidents in Missouri.
Clemons reportedly told his friend that he moved to Northwest Arkansas because he was “afraid to get caught,” according to the affidavit.
Clemons was being held at the Benton County Jail on a $300,000 bond. His trial date hasn’t been set.
In Arkansas, Class B felonies are punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $15,000.
