Middleburg man charged with threatening to shoot people

MIDDLEBURG - The Clay County Sheriff's Office arrested a man on Oct. 7 after several residents said he threatened to shoot them with an AR-15 rifle.

Anthony Ryan Hagan, 36, was charged with trespassing and six counts of aggravated assault after CCSO's Task Force and SWAT Units blocked his escape from his home. Hagan drove into a ditch and was immediately arrested.

"This is a prime example of how our patrol and specialty units work together to keep our community safe," Sheriff Michelle Cook said. "We had a dangerous and erratic individual who posed a serious threat to our community. Thanks to the quick response and coordination of our team, he was taken off our streets safely and promptly."

Hagan's bond was set at $610,020.

Man held without bond for trespassing, burglary of Middleburg home

MIDDLEBURG – A 68-year-old man was arrested after Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputies said he attempted to disarm the security alarm and disconnected surveillance cameras at a home at 4:40 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17.

Robert Charles Lancaster, who CCSO said was homeless, was charged with burglary after deputies found a smashed window on a back door and a croquet mallet. They also found trash from a fast-food company and an unplugged camera.

Lancaster was arrested two days earlier after the victim ordered him to leave. A CCSO deputy then told him three times to leave before he was arrested for trespassing with a warning. Lancaster had the pretrial release conditions paperwork in his pocket which prohibited him from being within 2,500 feet of the home.

His bond was originally set at $25,003, but it was revoked on Oct. 18 when the court determined he violated his pretrial conditions for release. Lancaster’s next court date will be on Nov. 9.

FHP: Information needed to identify driver of Sunday hit-and-run

ORANGE PARK – A 20-year-old Orange Park man remained at HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital with critical injuries after he was struck by a silver sedan while he was crossing Blanding Boulevard Sunday morning.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the man was in the crosswalk at 3:40 a.m. at Blairmore Boulevard when a car struck him. The FHP said the driver of the sedan didn’t stop.

The impact may have damaged the front of the left driver’s side. Anyone with information is asked to call FHP at (904) 695-4000.

Clay High student arrested for making threats

GREEN COVE SPRINGS - A 14-year-old Clay High student was arrested on Oct. 13 after the Clay County Sheriff's Office determined the person who reported finding a threatening message on a restroom wall was the person making the threat.

The message said there would be a shooting at the school during the first week of November.

The student was charged with writing or making an electronic threat to kill, do bodily injury or conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism.

The student was taken to the Department of Juvenile Justice - Duval County Detention Center. The student will also face disciplinary actions by Clay County District Schools.

Jacksonville man gets 12 Years for distributing child sexual abuse material

JACKSONVILLE – With the assistance of the Clay County Sheriff’s Office,  Tyler Bruce McClure, 25, of Jacksonville, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jordan E. Pratt to 12 years and seven months in federal prison for using social media apps to distribute videos depicting toddler-aged children being sexually abused over the internet.

McClure was also ordered to serve a 13-year term of supervised release, pay $16,000 in restitution to child victims and register as a sex offender. On Nov. 17, 2025, McClure was arrested in Jacksonville and has been in custody since that time. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement. 

McClure pleaded guilty on June 17, 2026.

According to court documents, in June 2025, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding child sexual abuse material (CSAM) being uploaded to a particular online application (“app”) by a particular app user known as “Ava_Tree_.” The company that owns the app reported that child-pornographic files were uploaded between May 23, 2025, and June 9, 2025. A review of the multimedia files contained in the account used by app user “Ava_Tree_,” who was subsequently identified as McClure, revealed several videos that depicted minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

There were also text message conversations between McClure and other app users. For example, in one such conversation, McClure negotiated with another app user to purchase videos depicting children being sexually abused using a popular online payment app. Further investigation revealed that an internet protocol (IP) address used to upload the CSAM was linked to a residence in Jacksonville where McClure resided.    

On Oct. 7, 2025, JSO detectives, Clay County Sheriff’s Office detectives and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents executed a federal search warrant at the residence where McClure had been living. The agents seized an electronic tablet device belonging to McClure, but he was not present at the residence. Later that day, agents contacted McClure at a local construction site and seized his Samsung cell phone. A subsequent forensic review of McClure’s cell phone and his electronic tablet device seized at his residence revealed that together these two devices contained at least 47 videos and seven photos depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, including toddlers and other prepubescent children in bondage. This review also showed that on Sept. 26, 2025, McClure used a social media app to distribute a video depicting several young children being sexually abused.

The case was investigated by the Northeast Florida INTERCEPT Task Force, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Jacksonville, CCSO, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and St. Johns and Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.

It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney D. Rodney Brown.