Man charged in lewdness with child

A Carson City man was being held on $250,000 bail Wednesday on suspicion of lewdness with a minor.

Earl Donald McClaren III, 60, was arrested Tuesday on a justice court warrant charging him with two counts of felony lewdness with a child under 14.

On Oct. 27, a 17-year-old boy told investigators that when he was between the ages of 8 and 12, McClaren, whom he considered like a grandfather, took showers with him, touched the boy's genitals, and had the boy touch him, said Detective Dena Lacy. Lacy said the teen revealed McClaren's alleged acts after he reportedly overheard two male relatives, ages 7 and 9, talking of showering with McClaren.

During an interview Nov. 22, in which Lacy described McClaren as tearful and suicidal, he initially denied touching the teen inappropriately, but then allegedly admitted having a sexual relationship with him.

The 7-year-old and 9-year-old boys denied McClaren ever harmed them, Lacy said.

She said she forwarded the case to the District Attorney's Office for review, because she was concerned if she arrested him then, he would make good on the alleged threat to harm himself.

When the warrant came through Tuesday, Lacy said she called McClaren's home and asked him to come in for a second interview. McClaren's son allegedly got on the phone and said his father will not speak to her again without an attorney.

When she and fellow detectives went to arrest him at his home on Siskiyou Drive, McClaren was leaving as a passenger in a vehicle. The car he was in was stopped in the 3500 block of Highway 50 East about 3:45 p.m. and McClaren was taken into custody.

He is being held on suicide watch in the jail, she said.

n Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.