Davis, Clifford Lee

Clifford Davis has resigned from his position as a counselor at Minot High School-Magic City Campus, effective immediately. He was offered the opportunity to resign in lieu of a discharge proceeding and will not be able to receive unemployment benefits. The Minot school board is scheduled to meet today at noon to approve his resignation. The meeting will be only virtual and will be live-streamed over the school district’s YouTube channel.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, Clifford Lee Davis, 38, of Minot, was charged in district court in Minot last week with the alleged sexual assault of a highly intoxicated woman at a house party on Dec. 4. The woman had been left to sleep on an air mattress in the basement of the residence, with the woman’s boyfriend checking on her periodically. The host of the party had gone down to the basement and allegedly saw Davis sexually assaulting the passed-out woman. The host went upstairs, called to the woman’s boyfriend, and they went downstairs where the boyfriend also saw Davis in the process of assaulting the woman and yelled at him to stop, according to the affidavit. The woman was so intoxicated that she told police she remembered nothing of the incident. The charge is a Class A felony. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 3.

Davis’s father posted his $30,000 cash or corporate surety bond. Davis is seeking permission to leave the state to live with his parents in Wyoming pending the trial, where he will work on their ranch. His defense attorney, Ryan Sandberg, is asking for a bond hearing on the matter. Judge Doug Mattson had originally been assigned to hear the case, but Davis’s lawyer demanded a change of judge and Judge Gary Lee was re-assigned to the case.