SEATTLE MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FAILING TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER
Defendant Agrees to Five Year Sentence For Conviction under the Adam Walsh Act
WESLEY CLINTON GRAY, 50, of Seattle, Washington, pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle to Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. GRAY is the first person to be charged in the Western District of Washington of the crime articulated in the Adam Walsh Act enacted July 27, 2006. As part of his plea agreement, GRAY has agreed to a sentence of five years in prison and 15 years of supervised release following release. GRAY also agreed to seek sex offender treatment while incarcerated. GRAY will be sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik on September 21, 2007.
According to the plea agreement, GRAY was convicted of Rape of a Child in Pierce County Superior Court in 1990. GRAY registered as a sex offender at various addresses in King County between 1990 and 1999. GRAY moved to California in 1999 and registered in the San Diego area as a sex offender. In December 2003, GRAY moved back to Washington State. He obtained a Washington Drivers’ License in 2004, but failed to register as a sex offender as required by law. In March of 2007, GRAY was arrested at his residence near Lake Union in Seattle.
GRAY was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Marshal Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Susan B. Dohrmann.
For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110.