Former cop gets 16 years for child porn

CLEARWATER — A former police officer has been sentenced to more than 16 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to 50 charges of child pornography.

Wilbur Raymond Clair, 54, worked from 1985 to 1988 at the Indian Rocks Beach, Belleair, Treasure Island and Clearwater police departments. Clair was arrested in February 2007 after an investigation determined he had made disturbing comments about children in an Internet chat room.

Detectives went to Clair's Clearwater home and found child pornography on his computer. They also found audio recordings of phone calls Clair had made to local children he identified through elementary school yearbooks.

He was either sexual or threatening to the children in the calls, prosecutor Holly Grissinger said. Grissinger said Clair is in poor health and probably will die in prison. If not, he likely will be subject to further commitment under the Jimmy Ryce Act.

Chris Tisch, Times staff writer