Man accused of taking his son, niece charged in California

(NewsNation Now) — Jacob Clare, the man police say took his 3-year-old son and 16-year-old niece from their homes in the middle of the country to California, is now facing two counts of felony sexual assault in that state.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to NewsNation Clare will be arraigned Monday. It is unclear who the alleged victims of these charges are.

Jacob Clare is facing kidnapping charges in Tennessee and Kentucky, where his son and niece lived, respectively.

Typically, California prosecutors will try cases in their state before extraditing a suspect to another jurisdiction, but a final decision about where Clare first will be tried has not been made yet.

The sheriff’s office was not able to confirm if Clare had passports or a weapon.

Earlier this week, Jamie Bravata, the 16-year-old girl’s mother, told NewsNation she believed Clare coerced her daughter to join him.

“Jake made it seem like unless he was around, she was not happy,” Bravata said. “Before him, she used to be happy all the time, then he came around and worked his sick, twisted stuff, and when he was gone, she went into her room all the time and wasn’t very happy anymore.”