A PAEDO school teacher sexually abused a 15-year-old boy and sent him naked pictures on a daily basis.
Reagan Gray, 27, has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the teen, who she met at Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas – Bill Clinton’s former church – where she volunteered.
Pulaski County Detention CenterReagan Gray pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in Arkansas[/caption]
YouTube/ Law&Crime NetworkShe initially told her pastor the relationship has not been physical, but later admitted to sexual assault[/caption]
Youtube/zcrscej
Reagan Gray volunteered at Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas[/caption]
The abuse began in 2020 when Gray, from Monticello, was 23 and a teacher at Sylvan Hills middle School, and continued through the summer of 2021.
The teen told investigators that Gray had given him oral sex multiple times – but nothing more serious as she wanted him to “stay pure”.
According to the court affadavit, the teen’s parents first raised the alarm five years ago after discovering texts between the pair.
They alerted the church’s head pastor, Steven Smith, who spoke to Gray – but was assured by her there had been no physical relationship.
Gray was suspended and prescribed counselling, but returned within weeks only to continue abusing the boy, switching their communication to Snapchat, the court heard.
Years later, during a counselling session with Smith in September 2023, Gray admitted her contact with the boy was in fact “sexual in nature” and had continued after her return, the court was told.
Police were called, and the boy told investigators Gray performed oral sex on him between five and 10 times in her car or apartment during the fall of 2020.
He said Gray had not wanted them to have intercourse “in order for [him] to stay pure”.
Gray was arrested and charged in April last year.
Soon after charges were laid, she was fired by the Pulaski County Special School District.
Before the charges, Smith quit as Immanuel’s pastor amid criticism for failing to inform his church about child abuse allegations.
Controversy stemmed from a letter her wrote on September 7, 2023, informing his congregation about “physical contact” between Gray and a minor, but downplaying its seriousness.
He claimed police told him the “reported level of physical contact did not rise to the level of criminal assault or abuse”.
This prompted one of the church’s directors, Courtney Reissig, to resign in disgust days later, citing “lack of transparency, accountability, and handling’ of an ‘abuse situation’”.
Gray was initially charged with first-degree sexual assault as she was in “a position of trust or authority”, but after a bargain with prosecutors ultimately pleaded guilty to a single count of sexual assault in the second degree.
She was sentenced on Monday to six years’ probation, ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and ordered to submit a DNA sample.
Gray was also barred from having any contact with the victim, and has been placed on the sex offender registry.
YouTube/ Law&Crime NetworkGray volunteered at the church and was also a school teacher[/caption]
YouTube/ Law&Crime NetworkShe has avoided jail but been sentenced to six years’ probation and fined[/caption]
After sentencing, the boy’s parents said they were disappointed in the church’s conduct.
They said: “Some of those people were in the courtroom today. Given the opportunity to stand in court with the victim, those charged with teaching, leading and protecting our son once again chose to sit idly by.”
They added: “What’s difficult to reconcile is how many adults repeatedly failed him – people with power, responsibility, or influence who looked the other way. Institutions that protected themselves.
“Systems that made justice harder than it should have been.”
But they also said they were “grateful that our son has one less painful load to carry”.
LAWSUITS
Two lawsuits have been filed against the church, alleging a cover-up of sexual abuse claims.
The US Sun has contacted Immanuel and Sylvan Hills Middle School for comment following sentencing.
A spokeswoman for Pulaski County Special School District said officials have no comment “as Ms. Gray no longer works for our district”.
Bill Clinton last attended the Southern Baptist church several decades ago.
He bid it farewell back in January 1993, saying that “were it not for this church, I believe it would be virtually impossible (that) I would be going to Washington next week as President.”
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