Martin County Registered Sex Offender Detained Pending Federal Trial on Child Exploitation Charges

 MIAMI – On April 23, 2021, a federal magistrate judge in Ft. Pierce ordered Gernard Keiwon Clark, Sr., 46, of Stuart, Florida, detained pending trial on charges of using an underaged girl to produce child pornography.  

According to court records, on August 31, 2020, a report of alleged child abuse led law enforcement officers to Clark, a registered sex offender. A forensic analysis of the SD card of Clark’s cellular telephone showed over 500 sexually explicit photographs and over 40 sexually explicit videos of a particular underaged girl.      

An indictment unsealed on April 15, 2021, charges Clark with two counts of producing child pornography, one count of possessing child pornography, and two counts of committing a felony involving a minor by a registered sex offender. If convicted, Clark faces a statutory minimum mandatory sentence of 35 years in prison.  A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

FBI Miami -- in particular, FBI Miami’s Child Exploitation Task Force -- investigated this case, Martin County Sheriff’s Office assisted. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rosa C. Rodriguez-Mera is prosecuting the case. 

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

An indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.