Court releases details of Little Rock’s Immanuel Baptist Church volunteer’s alleged sexual assault, investigation

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Details of an alleged sexual assault that took place between a student and volunteer associated with Little Rock’s Immanuel Baptist Church were released by the court on Wednesday.

The reasonable cause affidavit names 26-year-old Reagan Gray of Monticello as a suspect in the alleged abuse of an underage boy at the church, beginning when she was 23 years old until February 2024. According to the affidavit, Gray was an employee of Little Rock Christian Academy and a volunteer in the Immanuel student ministry who lived in Little Rock at the time the alleged assaults began.

Gray is facing a single felony charge of sexual assault. She turned herself in to the police on Wednesday and is currently free on a $20,000 bond.

The alleged victim, who is not named in the affidavit, was also a member of the student ministry at the church, which was how he and Gray met, the FBI-prepared affidavit states.

According to the investigator, the alleged victim’s parents discovered text messages between the alleged victim and Gray in 2020 that they reported to a senior pastor at the church. The affidavit continued that then-head pastor Steven Smith then confronted Gray about the messages and was told by her that the relationship was not physical.

Gray was then removed from student ministry and required by the church to undergo counseling, which she did, investigators said. The affidavit states that she returned to student ministry shortly after being removed.

Smith later told FBI investigators in February 2024 that Gray had confessed in counseling that the relationship between her and the alleged victim was “sexual in nature,” according to the affidavit. The affidavit continues that Gray and the victim continued sending messages to each other using the Snapchat application instead of text messages.

The affidavit shows Smith told investigators Gray and the alleged victim had additional physical contact since the 2020 discovery of their relationship. Gray told Smith about this, investigators reported.

The affidavit details that an FBI investigator interviewed the alleged victim in February and was told the alleged victim and Gray had sexual contact when Gray was 23 years old and the victim was 15 years old. The alleged victim also said he received nude images on the phone from Gray “on a daily basis” and that she requested the victim send images as well.

Per the affidavit, the alleged victim told investigators they did not remember sending images but considering the nature of the relationship, he said it probably did happen.

In the affidavit the alleged victim continued to investigators that they never had procreative sex but did have sexual interaction, either in Gray’s car or her apartment.

The affidavit concludes that Gray was on administrative leave from her job at Sylvan Hills Middle School as of Feb. 12, 2024.

Smith recently resigned as Immanuel pastor in April after controversy about how the church handled the sexual abuse allegations.

from KARK https://ift.tt/LBMq0OJ