Maryland Man Sentenced to Life for Repeatedly Raping a Girl Under His Care

            WASHINGTON – Charles Clark, 67, of Waldorf, Maryland, was sentenced today to life in prison for sexually abusing a young girl entrusted to his care.

            The sentence, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Clark pleaded guilty on October 11, 2022, to a federal count of coercion and enticement of a minor.  In addition to the life prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols ordered Clark to serve a lifetime of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.

            In a related case, on March 30, 2023, Clark pled guilty Charles County, Maryland, to one count of sexual abuse a minor/continuing conduct, and one count of sexual abuse of a minor. On December 7, 2023, the defendant was sentenced in Charles County, Maryland, to a term of 45 years in prison.

            According to court documents, in June of 2017, Clark targeted a child under the age of 17 beginning in June 2017, subjecting the girl to repeated rape and sexual abuse for five years. Despite being a “father-figure” to this girl, and despite having helped raise the victim from early childhood, Clark sexually abused the girl between 170 and 200 times. The sexual abuse occurred both at the victim’s residence as well as Clark’s residence in Maryland.

            While the abuse was ongoing, the Clark and the girl would communicate via Instagram direct messaging and the internet. Starting in 2020, the defendant ordered the girl to send sexually explicit images of herself to him, which she did on at least two occasions. Eventually, the girl disclosed the ongoing abuse to her mother, who immediately reported to law enforcement. Law enforcement, with the girl’s permission, then took over her Instagram account and began messaging with Clark. Clark openly acknowledged that he and the girl had been together for five years and that she “gave [him] the most precious thing a woman can give a man.” When asked what that was, Clark responded that the girl gave him her “virginity.” When asked if he was happy he was her “first” at the age of 13, Clark said, “Hell yeah….”  Clark was arrested on April 2, 2021. He has been in custody since.

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department’s Youth Division with assistance from the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force is composed of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking.

            It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Janani Iyengar, Jocelyn Bond and Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Angela Buckner.

            This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood initiative. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney's Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.