Tyrone Gray pleads guilty to sex charge
Story Location:
georgetown, DE
United States
A registered sex offender charged with assaulting a 17-year-old boy pleaded guilty and will return to jail. Tyrone Gray was sentenced to two years in prison, followed by three years of home confinement and 29 subsequent years of probation. Gray’s probation stipulates he cannot contact anyone under 18 who is not a family member, and he cannot access the internet.
A former wrestling coach at Cape Henlopen, Seaford and Woodbridge high schools, Gray entered a not guilty plea and requested a jury trial at his Dec. 22 arraignment. But at his Jan. 30 final case review, Gray admitted he was guilty of unlawful sexual conduct against a child and violation of probation.
Gray said little more than “Yes, sir,” as he stood before Superior Court Judge E. Scott Bradley in handcuffs and a white Department of Corrections jumpsuit. His attorney, Stephanie Tsantes, asked that Gray serve out his remaining sentence at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna, where he would be closer to family.
Gray was arrested Oct. 23 at his Lewes home. He was charged with four counts of fourth-degree rape, second-degree unlawful sexual contact and unlawful sexual conduct against a child by a sex offender and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution.
Police say Gray met a 17-year-old Dover boy online before he met the boy in person at the Dover Mall. Gray then drove the boy from the mall to his Lewes home. After they arrived, police say they received a call saying Gray had entered his South Brandt Street home with a young boy.
Gray was sentenced to 10 years in prison earlier this year for unlawful sexual intercourse with a child. His sentence was suspended after six months, and he was on probation at the time of his most recent arrest.
Tsantes said Gray was a Tier II register sex offender before the guilty plea; Gray will now be a Tier III registered sex offender.
