The original on Washington Post is paywalled. And my usual solutions of bypassing wasn’t working. Sorry for the MSN wrapper.
In Gauley Bridge,” prosecutors told the jury, “Larry Clay was the law.”
C.H. had reported that her stepmother sold her to be raped for $100 when she was 17 years old. The buyer, she told the sheriff’s department, wasn’t just anyone — it was Police Chief Larry Clay. While he was in uniform and on duty. The first time, against his department-issued vehicle. The second, inside a police office.
Clay, 55, and the stepmother, 27, were both charged with sex trafficking of a minor.
When Clay spent his shifts doing nothing but parking his cruiser and waiting for speeding cars, Pack was asked to counsel Clay on taking more initiative. When Clay hastily pulled a gun on a hiking tourist, Pack was told to coach him on being less impulsive.
The family was struggling to keep the electricity and water paid. Then, her stepmother approached her with a way of getting cash, an idea from Clay.
“He brought it up to her that he was sexually interested in me,” C.H. said. “We needed the money for bills.”
C.H. tried to describe it without feeling it. Her head being forced down. Then her body on the hood of the chief’s car. “He was raping me,” C.H. testified. “Did you say anything to him during this?” Herrald asked. “Too scared,” C.H. said, balling her hands in her lap.
She testified that she saw Clay give Naylor-Legg the cash. She would later learn it was $100.
After two hours of deliberation, the jury’s decision was unanimous. The verdict was handed to the clerk, who leaned forward and read it aloud.
“We find defendant Larry Allen Clay Jr. guilty.”
The verdict was read four times. Twice for charges involving sex trafficking. Twice for obstruction of justice.
Good.
It was the second time in Gauley Bridge’s history that a police chief had been charged with child sexual abuse. The first time, in the late 1990s, nearly 100 people had protested the arrest, declaring their loyalty to the chief.
At least the cops around here have the decency to only get caught raping women of legal age.
^That’s ^sarcasm, ^but ^also ^true
