Duval County Teacher Jeremy Scott Clark Charged in Child Porn Case

Jeremy Scott Clark, a 44-year-old high school teacher from Ponte Vedra, Florida, was arrested today and charged with distribution of child pornography, marking a grotesque betrayal of his position of trust in the Duval County education system. Federal authorities moved swiftly after an undercover FBI operation exposed Clark’s online exchanges involving sexually explicit material of prepubescent children. He faces a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison, up to 20 years, and a potential lifetime of supervised release if convicted.

The criminal complaint reveals that on February 22, 2018, an individual using the screen name ‘LLCoolJack1973’ responded to a bait message posted by an undercover FBI agent on an internet forum known to attract individuals with a sexual interest in children. The exchange rapidly escalated, with the user discussing sexual acts involving minors. Shortly after, ‘LLCoolJack1973’ sent an image of a naked adult male on a bed — later confirmed as Clark — and followed it with a link containing graphic child sexual abuse material.

Investigators traced the internet protocol address tied to the screen name directly to Clark’s residence in Ponte Vedra. A deeper probe confirmed his identity and revealed his employment as a teacher at First Coast High School in Jacksonville — a role that placed him in daily contact with minors. The revelation sent shockwaves through the school community, where parents now question how such predatory behavior went undetected.

On March 8, 2018, FBI agents and St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office deputies executed a federal search warrant at Clark’s home. They seized multiple computer storage devices and at least one Apple iPhone believed to contain further evidence of criminal activity. During interviews, Clark admitted the nude photo sent to the agent was of himself, taken in his bedroom. No additional victims have been publicly identified, but the investigation remains ongoing.

Clark has been taken into federal custody and is currently detained pending a hearing scheduled for March 13, 2018, in Jacksonville. He has not entered a plea. A criminal complaint is not a conviction — every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. However, the evidence gathered by the FBI presents a damning trail leading straight to Clark’s front door.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown as part of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation. The FBI and St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office jointly led the investigation. Anyone with information is urged to contact the FBI Jacksonville office at (904) 248-7000. For more on child protection efforts, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.