North Liberty man faces eight charges after alleged domestic assault

A North Liberty man faces eight charges after authorities say he allegedly held the mother of his two daughters against her will and assaulted her over a 17 hour period while in their presence.

North Liberty police officers were dispatched to the residence of Kenneth L. Clark, 43, of 12 Holiday Lodge Rd., Sunday night after receiving word of a domestic violence situation.

"The kids were able to get out of the house and went over to the neighbor's house to ask for a Band Aid," North Liberty Police Chief Jim Warkentin said. "The neighbor went over, saw the woman and called 911."

Upon arriving at the home, North Liberty police officers found a woman who claimed to have been physically assaulted by Clark to have multiple wounds. Clark, however, was not at the residence.

Authorities noted that the woman was "completely out of it," had a large laceration to the forehead, a laceration to the back of her head and severe bruising over the majority of her legs, back and arms.

Prior to being taken to an area hospital by ambulance, the woman told authorities that she had been assaulted between 3:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Sunday. She told officers that she had tried to leave the residence, but was dragged back into the house.

"She was not in really good shape, so officers could not receive much additional information about what happened from her at that time," Warkentin said.

Several hours after arriving at the location, officers found Clark hitchhiking along Highway 965. During an interview, Clark allegedly gave officers two false names, then provided them with his brother's information.

Clark was later booked into the Johnson County Jail and fingerprinted under the alias he provided. Officers were later able to determine that Clark was not who he said he was and properly identified him, reports indicate.

North Liberty police spoke with woman at the hospital, noting that her eyes were black and nearly swollen shut. According to reports, she was given enough pain medication that she was "virtually placed into a coma."

Police don't know the extent of the woman's injuries, current condition, or whether she has been released from the hospital, Warkentin said.

According to police, a crack cocaine pipe was found at the residence during their investigation, and Clark later admitted to having used cocaine in the residence throughout the day.

The couple's 4-year-old and 7-year-old daughters were in the home and witnessed the assaults, police said. They were removed from the home by the Iowa Department of Human Services, Warkentin said.

Clark was being held at the Johnson County Jail on a $50,000 cash bondMonday morning.

He faces a charge of willful injury causing serious injury (a class C felony) domestic abuse assault with intent or displaying a weapon, false imprisonment, possession of drug paraphernalia, providing false information to a law enforcement officer, prevention of apprehension/obstruction of the prosecution and two counts of child endangerment.

[mqMap showScale="true" key="TwU0" width="485" height="440" src="http://www.mapquest.com/embed?icid=mqdist_mb_wp&c=TwU0&maptype=map&zoom=16¢er=41.739577174908604,-91.60759259391781&projection=sm&showScale=true"/>