Jacksonville, Florida – Jeremy Scott Clark (44, Ponte Vedra) today pleaded guilty to transporting images depicting child sexual abuse over the internet. He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 5 years, and up to 20 years in federal prison, and a potential life term of supervision. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. Clark has been detained since his arrest on March 8, 2018. He was employed as a teacher at First Coast High School in Jacksonville.

According to court documents, on February 22, 2018, an individual using the screen name “LLCoolJack1973” responded to a message posted by an undercover FBI agent on an internet bulletin board frequented by individuals with a sexual interest in children. The user, later identified as Clark, began an online conversation with the undercover agent. After engaging in conversations about sexual activity with children, Clark sent an explicit photo of himself to the agent, along with a link to an online storage account containing images of young children being sexually abused. Further investigation traced the internet protocol address to Clark’s Ponte Vedra residence.

On March 8, 2018, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Clark’s home and seized his cellphone. FBI agents were able to confirm that the picture of the naked male sent to the undercover agent was that of Clark on his bed in his home. A forensic examination of Clark’s phone revealed that it contained the link to the online storage account previously sent to the agent.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 the 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 Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.