Secret life of child rapist who faked suicide revealed after neighbors find his body after 15 years in hiding

An accused child rapist long believed to have jumped to his death in 2009 had been secretly living under an assumed name – until his death last month exposed his secret.

Christian Robert Basham, 56, staged his high-profile suicide after he was charged with molesting a young boy in Kitsap County, leaving a suicide note in his car on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington state, WABC-TV said.

But Basham somehow slipped away and duped law enforcement for 15 years, living in Los Angeles as an unassuming building maintenance worker named Mark Clemens, whose sordid secret only came to light after neighbors found him dead for real inside his apartment.

Christian Robert Basham, 56, aka Mark Clemens, dodged a child rape charge for 15 years after faking his suicide. Kistap County Sheriff's Office

“Very shocking,” next-door neighbor Tommy Cuellar told ABC. “This was our maintenance guy. This was the guy who had keys to our apartments. It was troubling, to say the least, as you could imagine.”

Police in Kitsap County, the Washington community where Basham was charged with the gruesome child molestation case, said last week that a coroner’s autopsy had confirmed Clemens’ real identity.

The accused rapist was charged in the case in 2008 but managed to post $350,000 bail.

In March 2009, a witness reported seeing him jump from the Washington State bridge, and cops later found his car and apparent suicide note nearby.

Authorities ruled that he was presumed dead, although his body was never found, ABC reported.

Christian Robert Basham was believed to have jumped to his death off the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State. AP

It’s not known how or when he actually slipped away, but it is clear he rebuilt his life under his new alias, remaining under the radar until he died for real.

“He was just like a normal person,” said Cuellar, who told the outlet that Basham would even babysit his cat sometimes.

“A little rough sometimes but it was his personality,” the onetime neighbor added. “No other clue that he was this person he was accused of being.”

Despite his recently revealed background, tenants said they were planning a ceremony in his memory.