UPDATE 1/25 at 7:00 p.m. : The Clay County Soil and Water Conservation District issued the following statement, confirming that Clark has since resigned from his position:
“The Clay Soil and Water Conservation District is deeply troubled to learn that our former chair, Harrison “Ted” Clark, was recently arrested as part of a sting operation in Nassau County. The District was blindsided by this information several hours after Former Supervisor Clark had emailed his notice of resignation Friday afternoon. Former Supervisor Clark’s actions in no way reflect the code of ethics by which the District operates. We stand ready to assist with any investigational efforts that may be needed of our district.”
ORIGINAL: 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.
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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.
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