Collin County Man Sentenced for Child Exploitation and Pornography Violations

PLANO, Texas — A 22-year-old McKinney, Texas man has been sentenced to over 20 years in federal prison for child exploitation and child pornography violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown today and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno.

Stephen Chase Clark pleaded guilty on March 4, 2019, to attempted coercion and enticement of minors and distribution of child pornography and was sentenced to 250 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone on Aug. 28, 2019.

According to information presented in court, in August 2018, an undercover law enforcement officer posing online as a 13-year-old child received messages on a social media application from Clark requesting personal information such as where the child attended school and asking about the child’s home life.  Clark also asked for photos of the child in their underwear and in the nude and asked if he could meet the child for sex and discussed the sexual acts he wanted to engage in with the child.  On Aug. 28, 2018, Clark arrived at a Collin County park with the intention of meeting the child and engaging in sexual activity.  Clark was arrested at that time and indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 10, 2018.

“This was an especially warped defendant, and we have real concern that there could be other victims out there,” said United States Attorney Joseph D. Brown.   “We encourage anyone who knows of other inappropriate contact that Clark could have had with children to call our victim’s assistance hotline.” 

Those with information on this matter or those who may have had contact with Clark are urged to contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office at 1-800-804-3547.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Division and the Collin County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa Miller.