Minimum Security Calumet House Transitional Housing Unit Inmate Placed on Escape Status

MANCHESTER, NH — The New Hampshire Department of Corrections is searching for an escaped convict who is housed in a minimum-security transitional unit in Manchester and was placed on escape status on Friday, accused of failing to return.

Robert L. Clayton is 53, white, about 5 feet, 7 inches tall, and weighs around 206 pounds. He has brown eyes and short gray hair. Clayton was wearing a blue winter coat with a white stripe on his sleeve, blue jeans, and white sneakers.

According to officials, he was last seen leaving the Calumet House Transitional Housing Unit around 3 a.m. on Friday. He was due back at 5 p.m. Clayton was placed on escape status around 6:30 p.m. on Friday after he was accused of failing to return.

Clayton’s maximum release date was scheduled for August 2028, with a minimum custody release in June 2017 after being convicted on charges.

Editor's note: This post was derived from information supplied by the New Hampshire Department of Corrections and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the process for requesting the removal of a name from New Hampshire Patch police reports.

According to superior court records, Clayton’s criminal history dates back about two decades, after he was accused of sexual assault, assault, robbery, and other charges in Concord.

Clayton was accused of three counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, three counts of robbery, second-degree assault, simple assault, three counts of kidnapping, reckless conduct, criminal restraint, and resisting arrest or detention in Concord in February 2006. He was formally charged about five weeks later. Several of the charges were nolle prossed between June 2006 and October 2007.

Clayton pleaded guilty to robbery, kidnapping, criminal restraint, and resisting charges in October 2007. He was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. Clayton was charged with escape in Manchester in May 2016, based on a prior incident three months earlier. He pleaded guilty to the charge in July 2016 and was sentenced to one to two years in prison.

Anyone who knows where Clayton is or sees someone who looks like him should contact local police or Chief Investigator Jason Darrah of the NHDOC Investigations Bureau at 603-848-2569.

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