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LAYTON — A Weber County man who was arrested in July was charged in 2nd District Court Wednesday with 14 felonies in connection with an investigation into reported sexual misconduct with two teenage girls.
Tanner Paul Clark, 25, of Ogden, was charged with four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony; four counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a 16 or 17-year-old, a third-degree felony; and six counts of dealing in materials harmful to a minor, a third-degree felony.
The investigation into the case began June 19, when police responded to a report of keeping the peace at Valley View Golf Course, 2501 E Gentile St., according to a police affidavit filed when Clark was arrested.
“The golf course was in the process of firing one of their employees, Mr. Clark, because somehow it had come to the golf course’s attention that he had been communicating with girls — some of which were related to other employees there at the golf course,” said Layton Police Lt. Travis Lyman.
The responding officer was told that Clark had been communicating online with two juvenile females and sending nude images to one of them, according to a police affidavit. Charging documents indicate both teens are 17 years old.
The officer then relayed the information collected during that visit, and detectives looked further into the matter throughout the course of a month, Lyman said.
Detectives eventually interviewed both teens, and they told police they had received nude images of Clark through social media platforms Snapchat and Instagram, the affidavit stated. One of the teens also told police she had engaged in sexual intercourse with Clark four times, according to charging documents.
Police obtained a search warrant for Clark’s social media accounts, as well as the teens’ accounts, and found communication on Instagram between Clark and one of the teens, the affidavit stated.
“The messaging included six or more nude images that Tanner had sent to the juvenile female. Also on Tanner’s account were multiple nude images of the juvenile female,” the jail report stated. “The messaging also included evidence that supported the juvenile female’s disclosure of having sexual intercourse with Tanner.”
Clark did not speak to detectives during an interview and instead invoked his Miranda rights, the jail report added.
Lyman said there isn’t any evidence to suggest there are any other victims in the case.
Another agency investigated Clark in 2017 after parents of a 13-year-old girl said he had been communicating with their daughter, though police found no evidence of any criminal wrongdoing, according to Lyman.
“The golf course took some steps at that time to instigate a policy involving Mr. Clark and other employees in their correspondence with other customers at the golf course,” he said. “They took some steps to try to mitigate and prevent any more of that from happening.”
Lyman recommended parents to be vigilant with their children’s social media use.
“Be nosy and be involved in what your kids are doing online,” he said. “Maintain a relationship with them so they feel comfortable coming to you if something happens online.”
