AVON — A former Portland police officer has been sentenced to more than six years in prison after being found guilty of trying to meet a decoy posing as an underage girl.
A jury convicted Joshua Clark on a single count of child solicitation, a level 4 felony, while another count of child seduction was dismissed without prejudice, according to online court records.
He'll serve a total of 2,195 days at the Indiana Department of Corrections, or approximately six years and five days, according to Hendricks Superior Court.
Clark was convicted back in July on the allegation he arranged to engage in sexual conduct with a 14-year-old last year in Avon.
He was suspended in May and placed on suspension after the attempted meet-up. Days after the fact, he was arrested by Avon police.
The group behind the decoy is known as "Predator Catchers". The group posted an hour-long video of the encounter with Clark, in which he is heard calling himself an "idiot."
Portland Mayor John Boggs later said that Clark had resigned and that all his equipment had been collected.
In addition to prison time, Clark will have to register as a sex offender with IDOC.
Clark has 30 days after Sept. 14 to file an appeal, according to court records.
-
4 adults, 3 juveniles arrested after series of southeast side drive-by shootings
Seven people, including three juveniles, were arrested by Indianapolis police following a series of shootings across multiple neighborhoods on the southeast side.
IMPD officer injured in crash on southeast side, teen driver in custody
An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer was taken to a hospital after being involved in a crash on Indy’s near southeast side Friday morning.
Masked thieves hit south side fireworks store days before Fourth of July
A fireworks store on the south side of Indianapolis was open again Thursday after it was the target of a smash-and-grab Wednesday morning.
‘Nothing escaped’: Morgan County time capsule destroyed by water damage
A time capsule buried on the Morgan County courthouse lawn on July 4, 1976, and recently unearthed during renovation has suffered significant water damage that soaked everything inside.
