Berwick man again accused of sex crime against juvenile

A Berwick man who was convicted in 2014 of indecent behavior with a juvenile has been charged again with a sex crime against a juvenile.

Dex Clements, 32, of River Road in Berwick, was arrested Feb. 10 on a warrant charging him with sexual battery. The victim in the case was a 13-year-old girl, Berwick Police Chief David Leonard Sr. said.

The sex offender registry accessible through the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office website shows Clements was convicted of indecent behavior with a juvenile July 3, 2014, and convicted of failure to register as a sex offender Jan. 8, 2015. Clements was released from jail July 6, 2017, on the latter conviction, according to the registry.

The Daily Review had reported in August 2014 Clements was charged with failure to register as a sex offender 15 days after avoiding jail time in a guilty plea for indecent behavior with a juvenile.

After his plea to indecent behavior he was given three years of supervised probation and ordered to register as a sex offender for 15 years by then-16th Judicial District Judge Paul deMahy. While pleading guilty to the charge, Clements did not admit his guilt when he agreed to what is called a best-interest plea, the article said.

Clements had been accused by a girl of having committed two sexual batteries upon her between October 2006 and March 2007 when she was 6 years old, an April 2013 St. Mary Parish Sheriff's arrest affidavit stated.