IT professional arrested, charged for allegedly enticing a 13-year-old online for months

LEHI, Utah (ABC4) — A Salt Lake City man has been arrested and charged after allegedly spending months grooming and sending inappropriate messages to someone whom he believed was a 13-year-old girl online.

Damian Russell Clark, 31, has been charged with eight counts of enticing a minor, first-degree felony activity, and three counts of distributing material harmful to a minor, a third-degree felony.

According to documents, an officer with the Lehi City Police Department was undercover on the social media platform Hush. The undercover officer was pretending to be a 13-year-old, and a conversation with the suspect, later identified as Clark, began on March 12, 2025. He initially told who he believed to be a 13-year-old that she was too young for anything to happen.

The conversation between the two moved to a free texting app, where things remained platonic, documents say. Clark began introducing the idea that he was in a polyamorous relationship with another woman, chatting on and off with the presumed 13-year-old for several weeks before asking to move the conversation to Kik, another messaging app.

On April 19, the undercover officer updated the profile picture on the account, causing Clark to reach out and compliment who he believed to be a 13-year-old girl. Clark asked to see more pictures, and the fake 13-year-old agreed but stated that she would not send any sexual images to the suspect.

Over the next several days, Clark began sending messages that were graphic and sexual in nature. He allegedly described sexual acts and began introducing the idea of meeting up with the presumed 13-year-old in person. The undercover officer told Clark that they could meet up on April 21.

Clark moved the conversation to another social media platform again, this one offering “complete anonymity” according to documents. On this platform, Clark allegedly sent sexual photos of himself to the person posing as a 13-year-old.

Several times over the next several months, Clark postponed or canceled the meetup with the 13-year-old, offering a different excuse every time. Law enforcement says that he continued “grooming her with conversations and normalizing day-to-day activities” during this time.

On July 17, officers went to Clark’s residence in Salt Lake City and arrested him. During a police interview, Clark stated that he was “surprised” that he was arrested and thought he wouldn’t get caught because “he had been careful.” Clark allegedly admitted that he had been messaging with the 13-year-old not out of attraction, but because he wanted attention.

According to documents, Clark is “an IT professional with training and [schooling] about programming and computers.” Due to this, law enforcement expressed concern that he would use this knowledge to continue enticing and grooming children online if allowed out of jail.

Clark was arrested and booked into the Utah County Jail, where he is currently being held without bail.