Fort Pierce sexual predator accused of assaulting 7-year-old girl

FORT PIERCE, Fla. - A sexual predator was arrested Thursday after a 7-year-old girl told police he touched her inappropriately.

A doctor also said the girl had trauma to her private area, according to an affidavit released Friday.

Clarence Bernard Howard, 44, faces a felony sexual assault charge  in connection with the incident the girl said happened after Howard asked her to go for a walk to the store. Howard is not a stranger  to the victim, Fort Pierce police spokeswoman Audria Moore-Wells said.

The girl’s mother told police she dropped her daughter off at the home of a former relative between noon and 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. She said she returned about 2:30 p.m. and had her try on two outfits for school. She said the girl’s father picked her up about 9 p.m. Wednesday.

The girl said “Clarence” did it after apparent blood was seen on her clothing. A doctor at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute examined the girl and said she had trauma to her private area.

The girl told police her mother dropped her off at the former relative’s home. Howard apparently was there. Moore-Wells said the girl’s mother didn’t know of Howard’s sexual predator status.

Howard is a longtime friend of the girl’s mother’s former relative, Moore-Wells said.

The girl said as she and Howard walked to the store, Howard grabbed her and hid behind a parked truck. He touched her “extremely inappropriately” and she said it started to hurt, the affidavit states.

“The victim stated that they never made it to the store and when they were walking back to the house Clarence told her to not tell anyone what happened,” an affidavit states.

Although Howard’s listed address on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement sex offender website is an apartment in the 1000 block of North 16th Street, his arrest affidavit lists an address in the 400 block of North 17th Street. The North 17th Street address is where investigators apprehended him.

Howard declined to make any statements to police.

He was held without bail Friday in the St. Lucie County jail, a jail official said.