Man guilty of attack with a stun gunBy Glenn Smith (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Clark David Thomas A judge has sentenced a 46-year-old man to 20 years in state prison for kidnapping and torturing his estranged wife with a stun gun at a North Charleston motel in 2006. After a two-day trial, a Charleston County jury on Thursday found Clark David Thomas guilty of kidnapping and criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature. He also had been accused of sexually assaulting his wife, but the jury acquitted him of that charge, Assistant Solicitor Nathan Williams said. The victim, 23-year-old Rachel Crowley, said she was elated by the verdict. She had lived in terror for two years that Thomas would come after her again. "I feel great now," Crowley said Friday. "I slept better last night than I have at any time in these past two years." Crowley and Thomas married in March 2004, but they separated after a January 2005 incident in which Thomas assaulted her, authorities said. Crowley moved in with her mother in Adams Run. Thomas showed up there June 5, 2006, and said he wanted to take Crowley to his North Charleston motel room so she could retrieve some of her belongings. When they walked into the room, Thomas pulled out a stun gun, jammed it into her back and pushed her to the floor, police said. Thomas restrained Crowley with plastic zip ties, handcuffs, tape and shackles as he repeatedly jolted her body with electric charges from the stun gun, police said. Investigators said Thomas held Crowley for about 45 hours before she was able to escape after he took her for a drive in his minivan. Crowley said she was left shaken by the attack, struggling with nightmares and afraid to step outside after dark. She said it was extremely difficult for her to take the witness stand, face Thomas and recount her story this week. "It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. But I was scared that he was going to do this to somebody else if I didn't get up there. And I couldn't live with myself if that happened." Crowley praised Williams, North Charleston Patrolman Chris Talbott and others who worked on the case and supported her during the trial. Circuit Judge Deadra Jefferson sentenced Thomas to 20 years in prison on the kidnapping charge and 10 years on the domestic violence count. The sentences will run concurrently. He will have to serve 85 percent of that time before he is eligible for release, authorities said. Thomas' lawyer, Tommy Bolus, declined to comment Friday on the verdict. Reach Glenn Smith at gsmith@postandcourier.com or 937-5556. |
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Comments
This article has 38 comment(s)
Posted by Thomas1776 on July 12, 2008 at 1:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
That's all he got for a sentence? Sheesh! Should have been 30 years.
Why wasn't he charged with the federal kidnapping statute?
Posted by 10216340 on July 12, 2008 at 7:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I was thinking the same thing....should have been a longer sentence.
Posted by JH09915 on July 12, 2008 at 7:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Look at this damn idiot!!
I will bet he gets his ass "jolted" in prison..
Posted by EvilGenius on July 12, 2008 at 7:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
he looks "stunned" by the sentence. His cell mate will "shock" him into reality.
Posted by moonpie on July 12, 2008 at 7:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I bet this is the "thomas 1776" person that blogs on here!
Just kidding thomas...! Keep your panties on.
WOW WHAT A SQUIRRLY LOOKING DUDE.
Posted by ColdBeer on July 12, 2008 at 8:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
While I agree that this guy should have gotten a longer sentence, at least it wasn't a gun. Sean Shevlino only got ten years for two ARMED robberies.
Our entire sentencing system needs to be revamped.
Posted by lucy_fan on July 12, 2008 at 8:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
True, at least it wasn't a gun. But shoulda been longer. What a coward of a man to terrorize a woman like that.
Posted by lostinterestfast on July 12, 2008 at 9 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Beware of the wandering eye!
Posted by RTC on July 12, 2008 at 9:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is a man full of much anger and violence. Prison will not reform him in anyway, but locking him up is the only answer. He should have gotten a longer sentence.
If this woman had not escaped, there is no telling what his intentions might have been.
Posted by Tulane75 on July 12, 2008 at 9:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Posted by Thomas1776
"Why wasn't he charged with the federal kidnapping statute?"
Could it be that state prosecutors charged him appropriately? And that federal charges are only brought in federal court? The facts of the case?
Then again, Thomas 1776 never let the facts interfere with his constant criticism of anything done in pretty much any context.
I want him on my side if we ever get a discussion going on the designated hitter rule.
Posted by common_sense on July 12, 2008 at 9:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Duuude, where's my Doritos?
I'm just sayin...
Posted by FiscalConservative on July 12, 2008 at 10:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Good riddance.
Posted by farfallaspeaks on July 12, 2008 at 10:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Threatening with a gun vs TORTURING with a stun gun are two different things y'all.
He could have tortured with scissors, and it would still have given him the same punishment. TORTURE is more serious.
what a freak. i kind of want to know more details to this story. how did she escape? what was he saying to her? what was he thinking he would accomplish. and WHY did it take him over a year before deciding to do something like this?
Posted by skeeter on July 12, 2008 at 10:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey Tulane I hope you think the "designated hitter" rule sucks. I do! That's why I like the National Leauge!
Oh by the way this dude looks crazed and I for one will sleep better knowing he's with "Bubba"
Posted by FiscalConservative on July 12, 2008 at 10:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yea skeeter DH sucks. Next thing you know the NBA is going to have a designated free thrower.
Posted by Tulane75 on July 12, 2008 at 10:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Skeeter,
I decided at 15 that I would marry a girl from a National League city. In college, my Cleveland "friend" was great, but I just couldn't deal with the Indians!
Go Cubs!
I hate the DH!
Posted by ysillyme on July 12, 2008 at 10:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think coldbeer should get 10 years for not knowing the sentencing guidelines. His posts would be dissalowed in my hometown paper in N.C., he needs a designated thinker.
Posted by Thomas1776 on July 12, 2008 at 10:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Tulane75,
State prosecutors have no authority in federal federal matters. Kidnapping is also a federal offense and prosecuting him in federal court would not be barred by the 5th Amendment.
Posted by Thomas1776 on July 12, 2008 at 10:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Moonpie,
I saw you at the grocery store the other day. You didn't know it was me. But you were on sale ... 2 for a dollar.
Posted by drp7773 on July 12, 2008 at 10:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
20 years and he will be out on good behavior when? If I was her I would get the hell out of town and start a new life, anyone that can do this then spends time in the pen, seems to me he will be even more pissed off when he gets out and who will he be looking for.
Posted by Thomas1776 on July 12, 2008 at 11:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I wonder what that woman did to incite and provoke him so? People just don't do this kind of sadist stuff for the hell of it. Many of the family court cases would raise eyebrows in disbelief if people knew how litigants pick and taunt each other back and forth. Verbal punches, is what they are called.
Nobody likes to get screwed over. Hence, you end up in battles. Winner take all; even some will lie at the blink of an eye just to try an win.
Posted by Thomas1776 on July 12, 2008 at 11:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You people might not know it, but Judge Dedra Jefferson (black) has a thing for white men. Just ask around Broad Street. She's another odd ball Judge who was Judge Danny Martin's (black, and now retired) replacement.
Posted by ysillyme on July 12, 2008 at 11:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thomas1776--I can top your moonpie story. I saw c.b. on sale the other day and it came w/ a roll of toilet paper. Now fancy that.
Posted by Iknow on July 12, 2008 at 11:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
thomas, don't let your ignorance of the law prevent you from posting. See federal kidnapping statue below.
§ 1201. Kidnapping
(a) Whoever unlawfully seizes, confines, inveigles, decoys, kidnaps, abducts, or carries away and holds for ransom or reward or otherwise any person, except in the case of a minor by the parent thereof, when—
(1) the person is willfully transported in interstate or foreign commerce, regardless of whether the person was alive when transported across a State boundary if the person was alive when the transportation began;
(2) any such act against the person is done within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States;
(3) any such act against the person is done within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States as defined in section 46501 of title 49;
(4) the person is a foreign official, an internationally protected person, or an official guest as those terms are defined in section 1116 (b) of this title; or
(5) the person is among those officers and employees described in section 1114 of this title and any such act against the person is done while the person is engaged in, or on account of, the performance of official duties,
shall be punished by imprisonment for any term of years or for life and, if the death of any person results, shall be punished by death or life imprisonment.
Posted by Tulane75 on July 12, 2008 at 11:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thomas' ignorance never stops him from posting!
Posted by hardog240 on July 12, 2008 at 11:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Its about time this scumbag was finally found guilty and sentenced.Something has to be done to speed up this criminal justice system.This poor woman had to live in fear for the past 2 years while this loser was out on bail awaiting trial.Thank god he didn't kill her while he was out.I hope he gets whats coming due to him in prison from his girlfriend named bubba.As for the victim i praise your courage as you testified against him at trial i'm sure it wasn't easy but it had to be done.You probably saved your life and someone elses.
Posted by hartley8184 on July 12, 2008 at 2:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I really don't think prison is the answer necessarily. I think a good public flogging with a cat o nine tails and a good stiff fine - say, forfeiture of all future Social Security benefits to the victim in the form of a lump sum payment - would probably deter him. Of course, I think that should be an option for the victim to recommend.
See the problem is, our dysfunctional and maladapted society is breeding these people and we will never be able to build prisons fast enough to contain them.
Posted by preachlove on July 12, 2008 at 2:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
thomas1776 - Judge Jefferson is black - SO WHAT! If she likes white men - SO WHAT! And lastly she IS NOT AN ODDBALL JUDGE. SHE IS A GOOD JUDGE, PERIOD!
And here's something for you thomas - I bet you're white and a redneck racist jerk. How's that!
Posted by wpc3iop on July 12, 2008 at 3:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I imagine "Big Bubba" has a stun gun for him...have fun the next 20 years Mr. Thomas....
Posted by RW on July 12, 2008 at 3:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What a creepy looking little spud!! Get ready for some jail house taser! Where's the ACLU...? Oh yeah..he's a white heterosexual! They couldn't help him! Qick boy you better tell them that you are a woman trapped in a mans body and you are being persecuted because you support the Taliban!
Posted by gr8ful on July 12, 2008 at 5 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Kudos to Rachel for having the courage to do what she did.
What a torturous nightmare her life has been since the torturous nightmare he put her through. He should get more time, but what he's got will be well spent with all the Bubbas. Good for him.
People like this don't need provocation. I know. I dated one for 4 years. He put a gun to my head and told me he'd kill me, I knew would if I didn't leave and detach carefully. It's still a miracle to me that he didn't. No, I did NOTHING to provoke that, except believe my love could change the crazy bastard and finally give him the normalcy he must have longed for. HA! Once it sunk in THAT would never happen, I left and never regretted it, though lived in fear for years til he left town.
Some people are just demented. Whether they got that way on their own or someone made them, I believe once they get to a certain point, there is no going back unless by some miracle of God. These people don't want the miracle of God because they'd have to give up their own power tripping.
Let's hope he stays for the full 20 years so this girl can have some peace - and the rest of us.
Posted by walleyedwoman1215 on July 12, 2008 at 5:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thomas1776 wrote: I wonder what that woman did to incite and provoke him so? People just don't do this kind of sadist stuff for the hell of it.
Umm, yes, people do. Ever heard of Ted Bundy? He never gave a good reason for raping, torturing and killing 31 women. One was 12; he snatched her from a schoolyard. Doubt if she provoked him. Some people are simply sadistic.
Posted by justafan on July 12, 2008 at 5:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Coldbeer...I have a couple questions. I know it will be tough but no copying off your neighbor.
How do you compare a couple 16 year olds using a plastic gun and making off with $30/kid with a 46 year old kidnapping and torturing a woman for 2 days?
Were you the guy cowering in the corner in the grocery store frozen in fear unable to help the woman being held up with a plastic gun?
Why do you have such a hard-on for the kids from Wando?
Posted by stephaniem on July 12, 2008 at 8:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
gr8ful,
My deepest sympathies to you over what happened in your life
I had a sexual assault as a virgin at age 15 by a police informant/drug dealer who promised to slice my face apart if I filed further complaints with the police after calling them the first time. The police did nothing even after several other girls parents complained about him harassing teens.
justafan
Coldbeer does have a crush on them. He mostly is upset that he didn't get to the boy before someone else did.----- I do think that teenagers should be in a special prison. But stealing cars and robbing at gunpoint can terrify someone and cause them to have PTSD. I have military friends with PTSD who lost jobs and lovers b/c of it. You don't point any gun at someone except for self defense of yourself or your family
Posted by 512c on July 12, 2008 at 8:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
He should be a cop.
Posted by Yeah_I_said_it on July 12, 2008 at 9:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Man, white people are CRA-ZEE!
Posted by ColdBeer on July 13, 2008 at 12:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
justafan, let me answer your questions with one simple answer... and I won't even try and belittle you (cause i'm an adult)...
People that commit armed robbery should receive the death penalty.
Consider yourself schooled... carry on.
Posted by abitskeptical on July 13, 2008 at 1:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ColdBeer--are you serious?.."...at least it wasn't a gun.."
Purposeful, prolonged, premeditated, physical torture, regardless of the "instrument" used, indicates a deep seated flaw that, MINIMALLY, is on the level of what the Wando group did...& I believe it represents a much more dangerous & serious deviation which is compounded by the fact that this torture was done to a person with whom he previously had a close relationship.
Are you sure you thought this one through?