Clay County elected official arrested in child sex sting operation
The Vice Chair of the Clay Soil and Water Conservation Board, and son of Clay County School Board Member Beth Clark, was arrested Sunday, January 19th in a child sex sting operation conducted by the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office.
Harrison “Ted” Clark was first elected to the board in November 2018, before beginning his 4-year term in 2019.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
According to the arrest report, Clark is accused of traveling to meet a child for sex, soliciting a child online, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
Clark allegedly viewed the fake profile of the child on a hookup application, “Sniffies,” and began talking to the boy, who he believed was 14-years-old.
Over the app, Clark is said to have told the child his age and said “Hopefully not too old for ya,” before exchanging phone numbers.
A number of more explicit quotes are listed in the arrest report.
The two agreed to meet at a predetermined location. Once he arrived at the area of State Road 200 and Flora Park Blvd., Clark was arrested.
Deputies say that Clark admitted his guilt after being read his rights, and said he developed an interest in children through his pornography addiction.
He also blamed the incident on recent legislation that made pornography in Florida harder to access.
PornHub ended its service in the state this month.
Arrest reports obtained by Action News Jax show at least 10 people in this one week period were arrested in similar fashion.
As of Saturday, Action News Jax obtained mugshots for all of the arrested men, except for Clark.
We’ve reached out to the rest of the members of the Clay Soil and Water Conservation Board for statements. We’re still waiting to hear back.
It’s unclear if he will be removed from his role.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
#Clay #County #elected #official #arrested #child #sex #sting #operation