SLO County man sentenced to long prison term for molesting 2 children

A San Luis Obispo County man was sentenced to 70 years to life in prison for molesting two children, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

Christopher Wayne Clark, a 47-year-old resident of Atascadero, will spend 70 years to life in state prison after pleading guilty to molesting two children between 2001 and 2005 and 2010 and 2012, the release said.

Clark was charged with a total of 42 offenses, including 16 counts of sexual assault against a minor under 10 years of age, charging documents from an April 9 hearing showed. He ultimately plead guilty to five, according to the release.

The case was investigated by Detective Ronnie Overacker of the Atascadero Police Department with the assistance of senior investigator Herminio Rodriguez of the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation, and was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Kimberly R. Dittrich, according to the release.

“The survivors of these terrible crimes suffered in silence for many years — waiting for the day that this predator would be held accountable,” Dittrich said in the release. “Today their courage in reporting, and fortitude in seeing this through, has resulted in accountability and the stark reality that the defendant will spend the rest of his life in prison where he can never abuse another child.”