Man sentenced for beating girlfriend

A federal court sentenced a man to two years in prison for beating his girlfriend, a U.S. Attorney’s office said last week.

U.S. District Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson sentenced Louis Mark Clark, 28, Nespelem, to 24 months after Clark had pleaded guilty last September to “Crime on Indian Reservation - Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury,” a press release said. The sentence is to be followed by a three-year term of court supervision after he is released from federal prison.

The case was investigated by Colville Tribal Police and the FBI.

Clark hit and kicked his girlfriend, in the presence of their minor children, with his fists and knee, knocking out two front teeth. She got away, locked herself in the bathroom and called 911.

The sentence imposed on Clark, who has prior convictions for assault, “reflects the serious nature of domestic assault,” U.S. Attorney William D. Hyslop said, noting that U. S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington “works closely with federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to ensure that Native American Women and families are protected from violence such as this.”