Bradenton sex offender accused of sexually abusing 2 children, deputies say
A Bradenton man with a record as a convicted sex offender is facing new charges after deputies said he abused two children.
Deputies arrested 48-year-old Eddie Emory Clark on Aug. 19 and charged him with lewd and lascivious battery, conduct and exhibition after investigators said he sexually abused 9-year-old and 12-year-old siblings, according to court records.
An attorney representing Clark declined to comment when reached by the Bradenton Herald.
According to arrest reports, the investigation began after the Department of Children and Families received a tip to its abuse hotline on Aug. 15. In the report, detectives say one of the children alleged that Clark “made him do bad things.”
When Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputies initially interviewed the 9-year-old, they say he wouldn’t speak about the “bad things” Clark made him do.
However, when deputies interviewed his 12-year-old brother, they say he disclosed “several incidents of sexual abuse.”
Bradenton man abused 2 kids, detectives say
According to an arrest report, the child told detectives that Clark would “frequently” pull his pants down and masturbate in front of him
In another instance, the child allegedly told detectives Clark dropped an object on the floor and instructed him to pick it up. As he bent down to retrieve the object, detectives say Clark struck the child on the back of his head with his penis and then instructed him to perform oral sex on him, prompting the child to run out of the bedroom.
The child also told detectives that around two months ago Clark grabbed the back of his head in an attempt to force him into a sex act, again prompting the child to run out of the room, according to an arrest report.
The 12-year-old also told detectives he once walked into his bedroom and saw his brother in a compromising position with Clark, who quickly jumped up and pushed the 9-year-old away when he entered the room, according to the report.
According to an arrest report, the children were removed from the home by child protective services shortly after the interview with the 12-year-old. After being removed, detectives wrote that the 9-year-old was “joyful and excited to be away from the residence.”
When detectives interviewed the 9-year-old again, he disclosed that Clark had also sexually abused him multiple times, according to the report. Detectives said the child told them Clark had asked him “more than ten times” to “touch his private parts.”
Deputies say the child also said he told his mother about Clark’s inappropriate requests.
When detectives first interviewed the mother, they say she denied knowing about the incidents while they were happening. Detectives say she “was adamant” she only learned of the alleged abuse the night before the investigation began, when one of her children disclosed the allegations to her.
Investigators said they were also told Clark was homeless and did not live at the home, but would come by to cut the grass in exchange for food.
Detectives also said the mother told them she rarely allowed Clark to come around because she knew of his prior sex-crime conviction and did not trust him around the children “due to his history.”
But during a second interview, detectives say the mother admitted the children had previously come to her about the abuse, prompting her to tell Clark not to come around the kids anymore. When asked why she lied, detectives wrote that she explained it was because she feared getting into legal trouble for not reporting it.
It is unclear if the mother is facing any criminal charges at this time.
Sex offender’s previous convictions
According to court records, Clark has a history of sex-related convictions. In 1997, Bradenton police arrested him after they said he had sex multiple times with a 12-year-old girl while he was 21. The following year, he pleaded no contest to six counts of lewd and lascivious acts in that case and was sentenced to 32 years in state prison.
In 2002, now-retired Manatee County Circuit Judge Peter Dubensky reduced that sentence to 15 years. Clark was later convicted in 2013 of failing to notify authorities of a change of address as a registered sex offender and served 12 months on probation, court records show. He was convicted on this same charge again in Hillsborough County in 2017, according to court records.
After his most recent arrest, Clark remains in custody at the Manatee County Jail without bond, according to the sheriff’s office website. He is scheduled for arraignment Oct. 3 before Circuit Judge Matt Whyte, court records show.
