Man charged with murder in fatal ATV crash pleads guilty to federal sex crime
A Perry County man facing murder charges in connection to the death of a 16-year-old girl in an all-terrain vehicle crash in February has pleaded guilty to federal sex crimes.
Noah Back, 26, of Vicco, admitted to transporting a minor with the intent of engaging in criminal sexual activity. Prosecutors say Back began a sexual relationship with a girl involved in the wreck when she was 14 and drove her across state lines to a concert in Atlanta.
Back was arrested in March after investigators determined he “exhibited extreme indifference to human life” in a Feb. 28 ATV accident that killed 16-year-old Emilynn Clark and seriously injured another adult male. Back and another 16-year-old were also on the ATV at the time of the incident. The girl, who was driving and has not been publicly identified, was charged with a DUI.
The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, but prosecutors and Back’s attorneys agreed on a recommendation of between 11 and 14 years, complicated by a “pattern of activity involving prohibited sexual conduct,” according to the plea agreement. Back did not unduly influence the girl to engage in prohibited sexual conduct, the agreement adds.
Upon his release, Back would be required to register as a sex offender and would be subject to supervised release ranging from five years to life.
Back is incarcerated at the Laurel County Corrections Center and facing a murder charge because he allegedly provided alcohol to the underage driver of the ATV that careened into an embankment on Feb. 28, killing Emilynn and injuring others.
Emilynn’s death jolted the former coal mining city of Vicco, which straddles Knott and Perry counties in Eastern Kentucky. More than $12,000 was raised by the community to help her family cover funeral expenses, according to a GoFundMe page set up in her honor.
