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UPDATE:

Joshua Clark was found guilty and sentenced to six years in the Indiana Department of Correction with a 95-day jail credit.

ORIGINAL STORY:

AVON, Ind. — An officer in Portland Indiana was arrested Thursday following an investigation into alleged child solicitation.

The Avon Police Department said Josh Clark was arrested earlier Thursday on preliminary charges of child solicitation and attempted child solicitation.

This comes after the department was “notified of an incident in which an individual identified as Josh Clark, a law enforcement officer from the Portland Indiana Police Department, had reportedly attempted to meet up with an underage child to potentially engage in sexual conduct here in Avon.”

The Portland Police Department said Joshua Clark was removed from all law enforcement duties without pay pending an internal investigation after they learned of the investigation. He later resigned from the department.

“Any crime allegedly committed against a child is appalling; one involving a law enforcement officer is completely unacceptable,” the Portland police posted on its Facebook page.

Portland police worked with the Avon Police Department with their investigation. Both departments said they will not overlook any and all wrongdoing of an officer.

“We will always be dedicated to protecting and serving the community we work in and want the community to know that we take all crimes and allegations serious; even those that involve our officers,” the Portland Police Department’s post concluded.

Avon police added, “Like many others who were rightfully disturbed by the video shared publicly online, Avon Detectives and Portland Police Chief Josh Stephenson were in immediate communication to investigate this matter.”  

Clark was booked into the Hendricks County Jail Thursday on a $50,000 cash bond.