Court releases details of alleged sexual assault of Little Rock Immanuel Baptist Church volunteer and investigation

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

The reasonable cause affidavit names Reagan Gray, 26, of Monticello, as a suspect in allegations of mistreatment of a minor boy at church from the time he was 23 until February 2024. According to the affidavit, Gray was an employee of Little Rock Christian Academy and a volunteer with Immanuel Student Ministry who lived in Little Rock at the time the alleged assaults began.

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

The alleged victim, who is not named in the affidavit, was also a member of the church’s student ministry, which is how he and Gray met, the affidavit prepared by the FBI 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 continues that the head pastor at the time, Steven Smith, then confronted Gray about the messages and she told him the relationship was not physical.

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Gray was later removed from student ministry and the church asked her to seek counseling, which she did, investigators said. The affidavit says she returned to student ministry shortly after being fired.

Smith later told FBI investigators in February 2024 that Gray admitted during a 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 to message each other using the Snapchat app instead of text messages.

The affidavit shows Smith told investigators that Gray and the alleged victim had additional physical contact since discovering their relationship in 2020. Gray told Smith about it, investigators reported.

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The affidavit details that an FBI investigator interviewed the alleged victim in February and was told that the alleged victim and Gray had sexual contact when Gray was 23 and the victim was 15. The alleged victim also said she received nude images on Gray’s phone “daily” and that she asked the victim to send images as well.

According to the affidavit, the alleged victim told investigators he didn’t remember sending the images, but given the nature of the relationship, he said it probably happened.

In the affidavit, the alleged victim told investigators she never had procreative sex, but did have sexual interactions, whether in Gray’s car or at his apartment.

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The affidavit concludes that Gray was on administrative leave from his job at Sylvan Hills Middle School on February 12, 2024.

Smith recently resigned as Pastor Emmanuel in April after controversy over the church’s handling of sexual abuse allegations.

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