A former Wrangell doctor awaiting trial on federal child pornography charges is also wanted in Louisiana to face sexual assault charges against a child.
Federal child porn charges against Greg Salard have led the state of Louisiana to revisit an old sexual assault investigation and charge him with aggravated rape.
Salard was already being held at the Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau awaiting the start of his federal trial on charges of distribution and possession of child pornography.
Assistant District Attorney for Caddo Parish Ben Langford said the child porn charges led the state of Louisiana to issue a warrant for Salard’s arrest on March 25. Louisiana is charging Salard with one count of aggravated rape that allegedly took place a decade ago.
Langford said Caddo Parish investigated the allegations when they were made in 2007 but did not prosecute the case because there was not enough evidence.
He said that changed when Salard was indicted on federal child porn charges in Alaska last year, because those charges can be used as additional evidence in the aggravated rape case. Langford said it could prove that Salard has a “lustful disposition toward children.”
The State of Alaska subsequently charged Salard as being a fugitive from justice. Salard appeared in Juneau court this week, and District Court Judge Thomas Nave set his bail at $800,000.
Langford would not provide many details about the alleged rape. He only confirmed that the victim was a child. But some aspects of the new charges match old allegations that were the subject of an investigation ordered by Wrangell Medical Center in 2011.
Langford said the Louisiana charges are for aggravated rape that allegedly occurred between January 2004 and July 2005, and the allegations were reported in 2007.
According to the investigation ordered by the community hospital, allegations were made in 2007 that Salard sexually abused a child multiple times between 2004 and 2007. He allegedly engaged in oral sex acts with the victim.
Arkansas State Police records show when they investigated the allegations in 2007, they wanted to list Salard as an offender on the Arkansas Child Maltreatment Central Registry. According to records from the Arkansas Department of Human Services, a judge found in an administrative hearing that the allegations against Salard were unsubstantiated. Salard’s name was not added to the registry.
The medical center investigation concluded that police agencies in Louisiana and Arkansas believed the testimony of the alleged victim, but prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges because they did not have enough evidence.
These allegations were one of two reasons that Salard’s medical privileges at Wrangell Medical Center were revoked and reinstated multiple times between 2011 and 2013. The other reason came from allegations that Salard tried to convince his pregnant patients to allow him and his wife to adopt their babies. He continued to work at the hospital and for his former employer, Alaska Island Community Services, until he was arrested in Wrangell last year.
Langford did not say if the current Louisiana charges are related to the allegations investigated by Wrangell Medical Center. He said he will wait until Salard’s federal trial is over and will then seek his extradition to Louisiana.
Langford said there is no statute of limitations on this case. If Salard is found guilty of aggravated rape in Louisiana, he could face a life sentence without parole.
Salard has another Alaska state court appearance scheduled for May 5. His federal trial for child porn charges starts May 27.
Salard was one of four medical providers in Wrangell. He was employed as a family doctor by Alaska Island Community Services and served under a contract with Wrangell Medical Center, the community’s hospital. Both organizations suspended Salard’s medical privileges after his arrest.
In the weeks following the arrest, Salard surrendered his Alaska medical license and was fired from AICS.
