State looking for past foster children of man charged with sexual abuse

State looking for past foster children of man charged with sexual abuse

State searching for more of his past foster children.

Authorities are still looking for past foster children of a man accused of sexually abusing two boys.

Mark Obrien was charged Jan. 31 with crimes against two of his former foster children. According to court documents, Obrien had been a foster parent to more than 50 children — all boys — in the past 10 years.

Assistant Prosecutor Ami Miller said police have been trying to contact Obrien’s former foster kids, but haven’t been able to find all of them.

Obrien, of Republic, appeared in court Monday after posting $100,000 bond over the weekend.

According to Miller, Obrien was arrested by U.S. marshals after he avoided police last week.

“He was actively evading law enforcement,” Miller said.

She said marshals discovered Obrien was making phone calls to several foreign airlines, possibly to flee to friends in other countries where his parents have been missionaries.

Judge Jason Brown ordered Obrien to surrender his passport Monday and submit to electronic tracking.

Dee Wampler, Obrien’s attorney, argued the investigation has been going on since 2010 and that his client has no reason to flee.

“If he was going to run, he could’ve run 14 months ago,” Wampler said.

Wampler and Obrien were in court Monday asking for a bond reduction. Although Obrien already posted the $100,000 bond, Wampler asked that it be reduced so that he could use that money for the ongoing case. Brown declined the motion.

Miller argued for the electronic monitoring to be added, saying Obrien had been trying to contact one of his alleged victims through the boy’s new foster parents. She said Obrien had gone as far as finding the boy at a local YMCA.

In addition to the electronic monitoring, Obrien has been ordered to only use the Internet at work for work purposes and to have no contact with a child under 17.

His next court date is scheduled for March.

Anyone with additional information about this case is encouraged to call the Republic Police Department at (417) 732-3900.