'Father figure' sentenced to life for raping young girl under his care for several years
04/05/2024 1:23 pm PDT
WALDORF, Md. (TCD) -- A 67-year-old man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for sexually abusing a young girl under his care hundreds of times.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced April 3 that Charles Clark was sentenced to life in prison. Additionally, he’ll have to serve supervised release for life and register as a sex offender. Clark pleaded guilty in federal court on Oct. 11, 2022, to coercion and enticement of a minor.
Clark also pleaded guilty in a related case out of Charles County, Maryland, on March 30, 2023, to one count of sexual abuse of a minor/continuing conduct and one count of sexual abuse of a minor. On Dec. 7, 2023, a judge sentenced Clark to 45 years in prison in the case.
Beginning in June 2017, Clark raped and sexually abused a child under 17 years old for five years. Prosecutors said Clark was a "father figure" to the girl and had helped raise her. However, Clark sexually abused the victim between 170 and 200 times, according to the attorney’s office. Clark committed the crimes at the victim’s home and his residence in Maryland.
Clark and the girl reportedly spoke through Instagram messaging and the internet. Beginning in 2020, prosecutors said Clark forced the victim to provide sexually explicit images of herself, and she did so at least twice.
The victim eventually told her mother about the repeated abuse, who reported it to law enforcement.
Investigators used the girl’s Instagram account to message Clark as her, according to the attorney’s office. During the communication, prosecutors said Clark admitted that he had been sexually abusing the girl for several years.
Clark reportedly said the victim gave him "the most precious thing a woman can give a man," which he said was her "virginity" at 13 years old. According to the attorney’s office, police asked Clark if he was happy that he was her "first," and he replied, "Hell yeah..."
Officials arrested Clark on April 2, 2021, and he has remained in custody since.
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