Out-Of-State Man Gets 4 Years For 'Relationship' With Underage Amherst Girl: DA

A 42-year-old Maryland man will spend the next four years in prison and a lifetime on the sex offender registry after pleading guilty to rape and child porn charges, authorities said.

Investigators said they began exchanging messages on social media sites and then thousands of emails before meeting up in person.
Photo Credit: *Unsplash/Markus Spiske*

Josh Lanier

12/14/2022 4:43 p.m.

David Gray Jr., of Bel Air, was accused of starting an online relationship with an underaged girl that became all too real, the Northwestern District Attorney said following the verdict Wednesday, Dec. 14.

Gray and the underaged girl from Amherst began exchanging social media posts and then hundreds of emails in 2020, the prosecutor said. When the girl went missing at the end of the year, her mother contacted police.

Officers found the two at a Hadley hotel on Jan. 1, 2021, the prosecutor said. Officials did not release the girl's age.

Grey was charged with two counts of statutory rape and one count of possession of child pornography. Along with his sentence and registry requirement, Gray will serve seven years of parole, the judge ruled. He must also stay away from any under the age of 18.

“We hope this outcome brings some closure and a measure of justice for the survivor,” said Assistant District Attorney Andrew C. Covington.

He thanked the Amherst and Hadley police departments for their work on this case.

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