HENDRICKS COUNTY, Ind. – A former police officer was sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of child solicitation.
Joshua Clark learned his sentence Tuesday in Hendricks County. He was arrested in May 2021 in a case first brought to light by an online vigilante group that works to confront alleged predators.
Clark, a former police officer in Portland, Indiana, drove more than a hundred miles to Avon to meet a 14-year-old girl. Instead, members of Predator Catchers Indianapolis confronted him. The group livestreamed the encounter.
The group brought the case to the attention of the Avon Police Department, which opened an investigation into Clark.
According to court documents, Clark engaged in lengthy sexual conversations with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl on the messaging app Kik.
After learning about Clark’s arrest, the Portland Police Department removed him from all law enforcement duties without pay. He later resigned.
Clark was given 95 days of jail credit, according to court records. He’ll serve his six-year sentence in the Indiana Department of Correction and must register as a sex offender.
