Judge Wayne Gorman says neither Oral Clarke’s financial losses, nor his loss of social standing, can mitigate the fact he lured a minor on the internet with sexually explicit conversations.
The 60-year-old man from St. Jude’s, who is already serving a 20-month prison term for internet luring and possessing child pornography, was given 18 more months in prison Tuesday for another internet luring conviction that predated the one he had already been sentenced for in June 2017.
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Clarke has had the Tim Hortons coffee shop franchise he once owned, but which he had leased out in 2015, revoked due to the nature of the latest charges. His lawyer, Jim Goudie, had told the court his client’s financial losses due to the offences was in the range of $900,000.
Clarke is also a former district governor of the Lions Club.
In sentencing Clarke, Gorman said these circumstances are not reasons for a more lenient sentence in this case.
“Offenders who attempt to lure children on the internet know that if caught there will be consequences aside from the sentence imposed,” Gorman read from his written decision in provincial court in Corner Brook Tuesday morning. “That individuals like Mr. Clarke are willing to risk both their liberty as well as their financial and social standing illustrates the extent of their desire to have sexual contact with children.”
The judge added that it’s highly unlikely the Lions Club would have welcomed Clarke, let alone elevated him to such a high ranking, if they knew what he was up to in his private life.
Ironically, Gorman did say he thought Clarke’s offences actually warranted a 24-month prison term, but that he went with 18 months solely because that is what Crown attorney Trina Simms had recommended.
Simms had asked for between 12 and 18 months, noting Clarke’s offence was at the lower end of the scale of seriousness.
Clarke, using a bogus Facebook account that portrayed him as a teenage boy, had an ongoing conversation with a girl during a roughly 17-month period. She was between 14 and 16 years old at the time.
He used sexually explicit language that described sexual acts and also asked the girl to send him explicit images of herself. She did send him photos, but none that were deemed pornographic.
Goudie asked that Clarke be given 12 months to be served concurrently with the sentence he was already serving.
In victim impact statements provided to the court by the girl and her mother, the young girl was described as being cognitively delayed but that this was not likely something Clarke would have known.
The girl said she was uncomfortable with what Clarke was saying to her and thought she was in trouble herself when she found out he was not who he claimed to be. She said she is now afraid of meeting new people on Facebook and is upset that this incident has restricted her access to technology.
The fact the use of technology is so common these days and can make young people more vulnerable to sexual predators also prompted the judge to say the criminal justice system needs to address this growing problem in society.
In fact, Gorman compared the troubling issue of internet luring to the rise of armed robbery in St. John’s, which was identified by former Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador Chief Justice Derek Green in a decision five years ago.
Green, who is now a supernumerary judge with the province’s Court of Appeal, said the recognition of a serious local crime problem is a valid consideration when sentencing an offender.
“I suggest that in addition, the criminal justice system should respond appropriately to protect children from sexual predators like Mr. Clarke who would use the internet and Facebook to groom children for sexual abuse,” said Gorman.
