Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark

Klutzo The Clown

In October 2007, a former cop and minister who performed as a "Christian clown" was arrested and charged with possessing child pornography and traveling to engage in sexual conduct with a minor.

A. Paul Carlock Jr., who had performed as "Klutzo the Clown" for a decade-plus, had traveled to perform at the House of Joy orphanage in the Philippines. When he returned, customs officers at the San Francisco Airport asked to look at his digital camera, since he'd been with children in a country marked as high-risk for sex tourism. Authorities found images of naked boys "playing, showering, and sitting clothed but with their genitals visible," Carlock told investigators he planned to edit the images to show his church that the boys were so poor, they couldn't even afford clothes, and that they were photographed that way because "that's how they live."

Three boys at House of Joy told investigators that they woke up to find Carlock fondling them. When Carlock's Springfield, Illinois, home was searched, at least 21 child porn videos were found.

Carlock's employment history had always revolved around children, from working at a boys' school and the Illinois Department of Public Health's Child Health Division, time as a certified juvenile officer, volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters, and acting as a police department "youth division detective."

Carlock denied any wrongdoing, even as he was sent to prison. He died there awaiting trial in November 2007, after 39 days of ongoing health complications and confrontations with guards.