Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Man accused of lewdness with foster child had history of harassment, wife says

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Grant Claycomb

During a drive home from a valley doughnut shop, only a religious ad on the radio compelled a man to interrupt the groping of his young foster daughter.

After a similar incident on a separate occasion, the man described as deeply religious told the girl he had been fasting because of what he'd done to her.

These are two of five alleged incidents the girl, who was under 14 when she said they happened in 2015, reported to authorities last year, according to a Metro Police arrest report.

Detectives last week arrested Grant Claycomb, 51, police said.

Claycomb, who for the past several years helped raise about 60 foster children, was booked without bail at the Clark County Detention Center.

He is awaiting a bail hearing scheduled for Thursday morning.

Claycomb denied the accusations to investigators, according to the report, a message his attorney reiterated Wednesday afternoon.

Lawyer Robert Draskovich said that the allegations should be taken seriously but that the circumstances behind them should be viewed with skepticism.

When questioned by detectives, Claycomb’s wife told them she "believed the sexual allegation against her husband to be true" because he had a history of harassing other women, such as a family friend and a piano instructor, according to the report.

The woman further stated she'd caught her husband watching pornography. Once she'd noticed the man and the girl back away from each other "too fast" when she appeared, the report said. She was able to "put two and two together."

The wife "felt she could not have any friends because she is afraid (Claycomb) will grope people," police said.

In November, Clark County Child Protective Services contacted Metro about allegations the victim had reported to her current foster mother involving Claycomb.

The girl told investigators Claycomb had touched her about once or twice a month beginning in the summer of 2015, about two months after she arrived at the house, police said.

The first time, the girl said, she was on the phone in her bedroom when Claycomb entered and touched her, police said. He stopped when his wife returned home.

The victim told police she remembered the incident made her feel "uncomfortable and very vulnerable" and that Claycomb told her that "the touching was OK."

In October 2015, the girl was in the living room watching TV when Claycomb sexually assaulted her, police said.

Another incident occurred when she and Claycomb were driving from a doughnut shop, police said.

In November 2015, Claycomb, with the excuse of comforting the girl after she found out that she and two of her siblings were to be returned to their biological parents, inappropriately touched her, police said.

The final incident involved Claycomb grabbing the girl as she left the room to wash her hands after dinner, police said.

The victim described Claycomb and his wife as being religious to the point that they'd spend their Wednesdays praying in "all corners of the house," police said.

Another example included Claycomb's fasting after what he'd allegedly done to the girl. His fast that time lasted at least three days, the girl told police.

Claycomb denied touching the girl and told a story of her being upset because they didn't adopt her and that she'd stolen money from them, police said.

Claycomb and his wife also told detectives that he'd been sexually abused by his stepfather when he was a teenager, according to the report. Claycomb further said that his mother didn't believe him when he told her about the abuse.

Claycomb was booked Thursday on four counts of lewdness with a child under 14 and one count of sexual assault. Clark County prosecutors have since decided not to file the sex assault charge but filed an additional lewdness count, court records show.

Anyone with further information is asked to contact Metro’s sex crimes bureau at 702-828-3421. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 or crimestoppersofnv.