Published: December 14, 2007 08:14 pm         

Grocery owner faces molestation charges

COVINGTON, Ind. — The owner of several area grocery stores has been charged with four felony counts of child molestation.

Jeffrey C. Clark, 44, of the 700 block of Sandhill Road surrendered to Fountain County officials Thursday on charges he performed deviant sexual conduct on a child younger than 14 years of age. A spokesman at the Fountain County Jail said Clark posted bonded. He was released on $75,000 bond.

A preliminary hearing has been set for 9 a.m. EST Jan. 29 in Fountain Circuit Court, according to a spokeswoman in Judge Susan Orr Henderson’s office. He will be arraigned at the hearing and advised of his rights.

Clark is president of Covington Foods, which operates County Markets in Danville and Crawfordsville and IGA stores in Covington and Attica.

The alleged victim says that between July 30, 2002, and April 29, 2006, Clark touched her in private areas and forced her to touch him. The incidents allegedly happened at Clark’s home and an adjacent barn.

Tom Minnicus, an Indiana State Police detective, and Brandy Hold, a child protection case worker with the Fountain County Office of the Indiana Department of Child Services, met with the alleged victim several times and also with Clark.

Clark denied comment when contacted Friday afternoon.