UPDATE: Sussex Co. Man Sentenced to 12 Years for Transporting a Child Across State Lines for Sex

UPDATE: A Sussex County man has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison for transporting a 12-year-old across state lines to engage in criminal sexual activity.

On Thursday, Aug. 27, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika sentenced 23-year-old Miles Clark to 12 years in federal prison. He had previously plead guilty to one count of transporting a minor across state lines with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity on Apr. 29.

Clark plead guilty to transporting a 12-year-old he knew was a minor more than 200 miles for sex when he was 21-years-old. Clark picked up the victim from a church near her residence in Pennsylvania before driving her to his residence in Delaware. At his residence, he sexually abused the victim after sending explicit messages to her in the week prior.

“Miles Clark is a dangerous and depraved predator who used a popular app to target, groom, and abuse an innocent child,” said FBI Baltimore Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul. “Assuredly, our community is safer today with him behind bars where he can no longer harm our children.”

Upon his release from prison, Clark will serve eight years of supervised release and be required to register as a sex offender.

SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. – A Sussex County man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to picking up a 12-year-old girl in Pennsylvania for sex.

On Apr. 29, 22-year-old Miles Clark pleaded guilty to transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. He faces a maximum of life imprisonment with a mandatory-minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Clark’s sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 27.

According to court documents, Clark knowingly transported a 12-year-old girl from a church near her residence in Pennsylvania to his residence in Delaware where the two had sexual intercourse. Approximately one week before, Clark and the minor victim met on Snapchat. Their conversations quickly turned sexual with Clark describing in detail the various sex acts he wanted to engage in
with the minor. Clark also sent the minor videos of himself masturbating.

FBI’s Delaware Violent Crime and Safe Streets Task Force investigated the case with the assistance of Delaware State Police Troop 4. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika accepted Clark’s plea, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Claudia L. Pare is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and
the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, the initiative marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims.

This article was originally published on Apr. 30 at 1:40 p.m.