The News Room [News Archive]
Sheriff Contact: John Roach: 313-213-5162
Release Date: Thursday, March 24, 2005
Proactive police work catches registered sex offender targeting kids again, including pre-teen movie actor
24-year-old Van Buren man previously convicted of fondling 2 Boy Scouts
Wayne County Sheriff's deputies along with Michigan Department of Corrections Probation Officers have arrested a convicted sex offender they say has been targeting young boys again, including a rising child actor in Hollywood, Sheriff Warren Evans said today.
Stephan Clark, 24, appeared today in 3rd Circuit Court and was sentenced to 10-15 years in prison for violating his probation. Clark had served six months in the Wayne County jail for molesting two boys in 2003, each under the age of 13. The two boys were members of a Boy Scouts troop, for which Clark served as an assistant leader. Clark was released in May of 2004 and put on five years' probation. As a condition of his sentence, Clark was ordered to have no unsupervised contact with minors until at least 2008. He also was ordered to not leave the state.
During a routine home check last week of Clark's Van Buren Township home, officers uncovered explicit photographs and online chat conversations with young boys who he had succeeded in getting to expose themselves to him using a web camera.
The visit was part of an ongoing partnership between Sheriff's deputies and the Department of Corrections to monitor the activities of known sex offenders and other parolees and probationers living in Wayne County. Last year, Gov. Jennifer Granholm awarded Evans' office a grant to create a team of officers called the "Spot Check" unit, which is dedicated to that purpose.
While at Clark's home, investigators also found photos and other information linking Clark with the child actor, who has appeared in several recent major motion pictures. Clark, who also created and maintains a website for the young actor, has flown out to California and New York to spend time with the boy and his family.
Officers also found several photographs of Clark with the young star in New York and Los Angeles. They also found digital movies of the two together – apparently alone – at a White Castle in California.
Investigators spoke to the boy's mother on Wednesday. She was stunned and had no idea of Clark's criminal history. Whether Clark had any inappropriate contact with the boy is part of a continuing investigation.
Sheriff Evans praised the work of his deputies and MDOC officers.
"In light of the recent tragedy in Florida, it should be reassuring to parents in Wayne County that police are diligently checking up on convicted sex offenders and other known criminals," Evans said. "Clearly, Mr. Clark has a fascination with underage boys that could have escalated into something for more serious had our officers not been proactive."
Last week, nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford was kidnapped and murdered by a John Evander Couey, a registered sex offender whose most serious prior conviction was for fondling a young girl.
Since early 2004, Sheriff's deputies and MDOC officers have conducted home checks of registered sex offenders living in Wayne County. Last Halloween, they visited the homes nearly 400 individuals to remind them they could not pass out candy to young trick or treaters. During that process, several of the offenders were found in violation of their sentence or out of compliance with the requirements of the state sex offender registry.
"This was excellent work on the part of our probation agents and investigators from the Wayne County Sheriff's Office," said Michigan Department of Corrections Director Patricia L. Caruso. "The information uncovered during this incident is a tremendous example of how collaboration between our department and law enforcement can greatly assist us in our very important mission of protecting Michigan's citizens. The Spot Check program is an extremely valuable tool to help ensure that probationers and parolees are complying with the conditions of their supervision."
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