Oral Clarke, who was sentenced in June to serve 20 months in prison for internet child luring, has been charged with two more related offences.
The 65-year-old man from St. Jude’s appeared in provincial court in Corner Brook on Friday and the matter has now been set over until Jan. 9 for a status update.
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Clarke is still in custody, serving the sentence issued earlier this year. He had pleaded guilty to charges of unlawfully luring a child under the age of 18 by means of a computer system and possessing child pornography.
He had assumed the identity of a 12-year-old boy who went by the name of Ammon Charlebois on Facebook. In October 2015, he made contact with an 11-year-old girl and they exchanged photos of their genitalia.
Since he was sentenced, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of Newfoundland and Labrador Internet Child Exploitation Team that investigated Clarke issued public appeals for more victims. They never named him specifically, but were looking for anyone else who may have had interacted with a 65-year-old man from the Deer Lake area who had been using the pseudonym Ammon Charlebois online and who had recently been convicted of internet luring crimes.
Clarke was once known as an upstanding citizen in his community, having served as a member of the Lions Club and as a former Tim Hortons franchise owner in Deer Lake. Both of those entities have severed ties with Clarke.
Just last week, the police told The Western Star it had no new information about the case, but the investigation was continuing.
The two latest charges sworn in provincial court this week involve the same young victim and include allegations of invitations to sexual touching. The offence dates range from between Dec. 22, 2014 and May 31, 2016.
