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.
“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.
