OKATIE, SC (July 22, 2025) – Two men – one from Hampton County and the other a Colleton County resident – have been convicted of sexually abusing young female relatives.
Adrian Clank Clark, 44, of Estill, pleaded guilty Friday at the Hampton County Courthouse to second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.
The young victim disclosed sexual abuse in 2020 while at a doctor’s appointment with her mother. The girl, aged 15 at the time, was pregnant by the defendant. The girl said the abuse had begun five years earlier, when she was 10. The girl told her mother that the man threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone of the sexual abuse.
Clark was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Circuit Court Judge Marvin Dukes handed down the sentence. Assistant Solicitor Hunter Swanson of the 14th Circuit Special Victims Unit prosecuted the case.
Clark’s prior criminal record includes convictions from Georgia for auto-breaking (1999) and probation violation form a larceny charge (2007).
Fourteenth Circuit prosecutors successfully convicted a second man Tuesday in Dorchester County in an unrelated case.
Gary Paul Celino Jr., 38, of Round O, pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor for sexually abusing two young female relatives beginning in 2017 when the youngest girl was approximately 5 years old. The abuse ended in 2024 when the girls’ mother discovered a diary describing the ongoing sexual assaults, which occurred in Dorchester, Berkeley and Colleton counties.
Celino would bribe the victims with money and iPhones.
Celino was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Circuit Court Judge Maite Murphy handed down the sentence.
“We believe justice was served with these convictions while being respectful of the young victims in these cases,” said Julie Kate Keeney of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, who prosecuted Celino’s case and assisted in the Clark proceeding. “These types of crimes occur behind closed doors and are fueled by fear, coercion and manipulation. By shedding light on sexual abuse, we can hopefully restore some of the victims stolen trust and power.”
In most cases of child sexual abuse, the perpetrator is known to the victim. To report sexual abuse of a child, call 911 or your local law enforcement agency. To learn more about the warning signs of sexual abuse in young children, visit rainn.org/articles/warning-signs-young-children or call the 14th Circuit Victims Services Center at (843) 790-6220 and ask to speak with a pediatric forensic nurse.
