Court file details abuse allegations against Mountain Home principal

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article reported the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office as the investigating agency. That is incorrect. Mountain Home Police Department investigated the case.

A Mountain Home middle school principal would play “a game he called ‘wooling’” that involved inappropriately touching two underage girls, a Mountain Home police officer wrote in a court affidavit.

John F. Clark, principal for Hacker Middle School, is charged with two felony counts of sexual abuse of a child and one felony count of sexual battery to a minor child.

One of the girls said he would persist in his game even when she asked him to stop, and another said she would “be in trouble,” according to the affidavit.

Clark also reportedly would get into bed with a girl, then grab her or otherwise touch her while she attempted to pull away. Clark reportedly acted as if the “behavior was a joke,” according to the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, Clark told investigators he did get in bed with the underage girls, but denied other allegations.

In court earlier this week, Clark’s attorney, Scott McKay, said the allegations were untrue and related to “horseplay” involving the girls, KIVI-TV Channel 6 reported.

Clark’s next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 12. He posted bond Tuesday and the court filed a no contact order, according to court documents.

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 9:09 AM with the headline "Court file details abuse allegations against Mountain Home principal."