This story contains details that some readers may find disturbing. Discretion is advised.
A west coast man convicted of child luring and pornography crimes has had his sentence reduced by the province’s highest court.
68-year-old Oral Clarke was handed an eight-year sentence for contacting four girls online and asking them to undress, perform sex acts and send him nude photos—all while he was posing as a 16-year-old boy. The girls were aged 12 to 15 and living in other parts of Canada and the state of Ohio.
Clarke was convicted in 2018, but last week the Court of Appeal cut the sentence to five years, saying eight years was too harsh in a case where there was no in-person contact or attempt to do so.
The Court also said the judge was wrong to view Clarke’s fake accounts on Skype and Facebook as an aggravating factor, adding it was all too common in similar cases.
Clarke was a family man, successful business owner and known for his community work in the Deer Lake area before pleading guilty to similar charges in 2017. That resulted in a sentence he’s still serving at the jail in Bishop’s Falls.
He won’t begin serving the five-year sentence until later this year, when the current one expires.