Friday, December 7, 2018

Child Rapist

Former youth football coach faces child sex abuse charges

Nicolas Aaron Clark had initially been arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography

By Andy Matarrese, Columbian Breaking News Reporter
Published:

A former local youth football coach initially arrested on suspicion of child pornography charges now faces additional charges of child sexual abuse.

Nicolas Aaron Clark, 40, appeared in Clark County Superior Court Wednesday on suspicion of first-degree child rape and sexual exploitation of a minor.

Detectives working on Clark’s pending child pornography case found video and images of Clark abusing a child, according to court records.

Clark knew the victim, according to court records. The victim was not one of his players.
Clark was a coach with Clark County Youth Football. When Clark was first arrested on child pornography charges in October, league president Terry Hyde told The Columbian Clark coached fourth- and fifth-graders.

Hyde said the league conducts a background check for every hire, and that Clark was removed from the league once it learned of the allegations.

Prosecutors said Wednesday the new charges will likely be rolled in with Clark’s pending child pornography case.

Clark appeared in court in October on suspicion of three counts of first-degree possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct and a single count of second-degree possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

He was arrested after authorities received word over the summer about a user on Tumblr, a blogging and social media networking site, who was sharing child pornography, according to court records.
Police traced site account data to Clark’s home in Camas and his cellphone.
Earlier court records misspelled his first name as Nicholas.

In light of the new charges, Superior Court Judge Robert Lewis agreed to increase Clark’s bail amount to $200,000. His next court date, a hearing about adding the new charges, was scheduled for Dec. 19.

Friday, October 19, 2018



Nicholas A. Clark (center) appears in Clark County Superior Court on Monday to face charges of possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. A deputy prosecutor said Clark coached youth football in the county. (Jerzy Shedlock/The Columbian)  


A 40-year-old man who coached Clark County Youth Football appeared Monday morning in court to face allegations of child pornography possession.


Nicholas A. Clark of Camas appeared on suspicion of three counts of first-degree possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct and a single count of second-degree possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Deputy Prosecutor Brian Pruett said the prosecution learned through detectives that Clark coached children ages 6 to 8 through Clark County Youth Football.

Terry Hyde, league president of Clark County Youth Football, said Clark coached fourth- and fifth-graders.

“Clark County Youth Football does an extensive background check on all coaches, volunteers and anyone who works with the children,” Hyde said in an email Monday afternoon.
Upon learning of the allegations, Clark was immediately removed from the program, Hyde said, and will not have “access to players or (Clark County Youth Football) events for the remainder of the season.”

On Aug. 30, the Vancouver Police Department’s Digital Evidence Cybercrime Unit began investigating a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding an account on Tumblr, a blogging and social media networking site, that was uploading suspected child pornography, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Tumblr had notified the organization June 23 that the profile had tried to pass an image of child pornography through its servers, and provided the user’s screen name and two internet protocol, or IP, addresses — one through Verizon and the other through Comcast, the affidavit states.

Investigators served a search warrant and obtained subscriber information from Verizon. The subscribers were listed as Clark’s wife and a business account, and was registered to their home in Camas and a business off of Grand Boulevard. The account was also traced to Clark’s cellphone number, court records say.

On Friday, investigators served a search warrant at Clark’s business and residence. Clark was home but declined to speak with authorities. Investigators seized his iPhone and found a “plethora of images and/or videos depicting children ranging from the ages of 5 to 11 engaging in sexual conduct. Some of these images showed children being directed to engage in ‘bondage,’” according to court documents.

Police reviewed at least three of the images and determined them to be child pornography, the affidavit says.

On Monday, Clark County Superior Court Judge John Fairgrieve set Clark’s bail at $10,000, citing the nature of the allegations. An arraignment hearing was set for Oct. 16.
Clark did not qualify for a court-appointed attorney. 

Clark said he has never been in trouble with the law. He runs his own business where he manages employees, he said, before Fairgrieve decided his bail amount. Clark said he’d be able to pay bail. If he posts bail, Clark is not to have contact with minors as part of his conditions of release.

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