Joplin Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Child Abuse

Sentencing has been held for a Joplin man who pleaded guilty in Jasper County Circuit Court to a charge of child abuse on September 20.   

Circuit Judge Gayle Crane sentenced 32-year-old Earl Clark to 15 years in prison in connection with a felony count of child abuse that left his eight-week-old son legally blind and unable to eat or drink.

The crime took place in the fall of 2017 at a residence in Joplin where EMTs responded to the call about a baby unable to breathe and suffering seizures. The child, Sebastian Clark, was taken by ambulance to Freeman Hospital West and later med-flighted to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

While at Children’s Mercy  physicians discovered injuries to the child’s face, arms and body and noted extensive bleeding in his brain.  The child was initially listed as being in critical condition in the pediatric intensive care unit at Children’s Mercy.

Earl Clark admitted that he had been caring for the child and he later told police that he had shaken the baby and dropped him. The child is alive but reportedly will require feeding by tube for the rest of his life and will never be able to walk or take part in other normal activities of daily living.