A TWISTED teacher who sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy has avoided a jail sentence following a plea bargain.
Reagan Gray, 27, met her victim at Bill Clinton’s former church in Arkansas, where she was a volunteer.
She continuously sent nude photos “on a daily basis” to her victim after they became acquainted at Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, as detailed to the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court.
The court also heard that Gray had wanted the teen to “stay pure.”
Gray entered a guilty plea in court on Monday for a single count of sexual assault in the second degree, reported NBC-affiliated Kark.
Gray, of Monticello, was charged with abuse at the church when she was 23 years old.
According to a reasonable cause affidavit, filed in April 2024 when Gray was 26, the abuse began in 2020 and continued through the summer of 2021.
This was while she was an employee of Little Rock Christian Academy and a student minister there, said the affidavit.
She was initially charged with sexual assault in the first and fourth degrees.
However, in a plea bargain with prosecutors, Gray pleaded guilty to sexual assault in the second degree.
Judge Latonya Honorable sentenced her to six years’ probation.
Gray was fined $1,000, and ordered to submit a DNA sample.
She will be placed on the sex offender registry, and must have no contact with the victim.
Following the sentencing, the victim’s parents expressed in a statement that they felt “grateful that our son has one less painful load to carry,” as noted by the Mail Online.
They further commented, “What’s challenging to comprehend is how many adults consistently failed him – individuals with authority, duty, or sway who chose to look away. Institutions that prioritized their protection.”
“Systems that made justice harder than it should have been.”
TEXTS
The affidavit said that the teen’s parents had discovered text messages between him and Gray five years ago.
After being alerted to the messages, then-head pastor, Steven Smith, spoke to Gray, who told him there was no physical relationship.
The court was told that Gray had met the boy at the church, which is one of the biggest in Arkansas.
The church sent her for counseling after hearing the parents’ allegations – but she returned within weeks, and continued to abuse the boy, the court heard.
REMOVED AS TEACHER
Later, during a counselling session with Smith, Gray admitted her contact with the boy was “sexual in nature” and had continued after her suspension, the court was told.
Police were called, and the boy told investigators they had sex between five and 10 times during the fall of 2020.
Sylvan Hills Middle School removed Gray from her role as teacher in mid-February 2024, after the charges were laid.
About two months later, Smith preached for the final time as Immanuel’s pastor.
He quit amid criticism for failing to inform his church about child abuse allegations, reported the Christian Post at the time.
LAWSUITS
Two lawsuits have been filed against the church, alleging a cover-up of sexual abuse claims.
The U.S. 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 “regarding this matter 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.”
