A former Chesterville man is charged with sexually assaulting four Franklin County children on multiple occasions in recent years.

Police said Jonathan Clark, 28, of Lovell, in Oxford County, confessed last week in an interview with police to sexually assaulting four boys multiple times over the past two years, including assaulting one of the victims “approximately 20 or 30 times,” according to Franklin County court documents.

The victims were between 5 and 14 years old when they were assaulted, according to an affidavit by Detective Herbert Leighton of the Maine State Police.

The court documents detailed grooming behavior in which Clark reportedly gave one of the victims a laptop as a gift and “would often spend money on the children by taking them out” over the course of the abuse.

Clark, who also reportedly video-recorded some of the assaults, told victims not to tell anyone about the abuse, according to the affidavit. In interviews with the Department of Health and Human Services, The Children’s Advocacy Center and state police, children told officials about trying to push Clark away, but said they weren’t able to.

Clark is charged with six counts of class A gross sexual assault, which each carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. He is also charged with one count of class C sexual abuse of a minor, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

His next scheduled court appearance is 8:30 a.m. May 7. Clark couldn’t make bail, which was set Monday by Judge Susan Oram at $200,000 with the restriction that no third party post bail on his behalf. The conditions of bail may be reviewed after he is appointed an attorney.

Kaitlin Schroeder — 861-9252 kschroeder@centralmaine.com