A man involved in helping a runaway teen leave town pled guilty to reduced charges against him during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
Twenty-year-old Gabriel Stephen Gray, who has listed a Yellville address, pled guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor. The state dropped a felony charge of interfering with custody.
He was sentenced to 12 months misdemeanor probation.
Gray was booked into the Baxter County jail May 2 and was released after posting a $5,000 bond.
He was returned to jail May 6 when the company that wrote his original bond revoked it on the grounds Gray was a flight risk.
A second company agreed to write the bond and Gray was again released.
HELPS RUNAWAY TEEN GET OUT OF TOWN
The charges are based on Gray’s participation in helping a female get out of Mountain Home after she is reported to have told him she had run away from home.
In the probable cause affidavit, the girl is listed as a runaway juvenile.
She was reported to have last been seen about 11:15 p.m. April 17 in the vicinity of Western Hills Lane.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the girl’s mother told investigators she woke up on the morning of April 18 and found her daughter missing from the family’s home.
Information that the girl could not be found led to missing and endangered child advisories being widely distributed.
Information on the missing teen was carried by media outlets throughout the area and shared with law enforcement agencies and others.
Gray was interviewed immediately after investigators discovered that he and the missing girl had worked together at the same fast-food restaurant. He was reported to have given several stories related to his recent interactions with her.
In none of his initial stories did he say that he was aware of the girl’s current location. Investigators told him if she did contact him to let law enforcement know.
Gray made no reports to law enforcement, but based on a citizen’s tip, the runaway was found in West Plains and returned to Mountain Home. Gray turned himself in at the Mountain Home Police Department.
According to court records, Gray and the girl had been — or were in — some type of a dating relationship.
When the alleged runaway was interviewed, she said that on the day she went missing, she met Gray at the restaurant where they had worked and told him she had run away from home.
She said Gray arranged for a ride to West Plains. The reason the couple selected West Plains as a destination is not spelled out in the probable cause affidavit.
A relative of the missing girl filed a petition for an order of protection to keep Gray away from the girl on April 10, seven days before the teenager went missing.
Court records show the petition was dismissed for lack of prosecution when the relative who filed for the order failed to show up for a hearing.
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