School employee offered girl a ride to a friend’s house, then kidnapped her, feds say
.jpg "A school employee offered a girl a ride and then kidnapped her and brought her to his home in New Mexico where he handcuffed and assaulted her, feds said. Getty Images | Royalty Free")
A school employee in Texas offered a girl a ride, but then kidnapped her and brought her to his house in New Mexico where he handcuffed and assaulted her, according to federal prosecutors.
The employee, Jeffrey Steven Clay, 50, was arrested and indicted on multiple charges, including kidnapping and transportation for illegal sexual activity, on Nov. 10, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.
Clay, who worked as an executive director of analytics, strategy and assessment and public education information management systems for the El Paso Independent School District, had also worked in various other positions, including as school principal, according to prosecutors. A spokesman for the school district declined to comment citing an “active prosecution.”
Investigators say Clay offered a ride to a girl on Aug. 4, 2021, telling her he’d take her to her friend’s house in El Paso. Instead, he drove her to his home in Anthony, New Mexico, about 20 miles north.
The girl “never agreed to go anywhere with Clay besides her friend’s house in El Paso,” the release said.
When they got to his house, Clay “attempted to kiss” the girl but hit her in the face when she rebuffed him, prosecutors said. He also handcuffed her when she tried to resist, according to the release.
He then took her into a bedroom in the house where he “punched her in the face multiple times and sexually assaulted (her) while she remained handcuffed, crying, and repeatedly pleading with Clay to stop,” officials said.
Clay’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.
After the assault, Clay drove the girl back toward El Paso, and while he was stopped at a traffic light, she got out of the car and ran to a nearby convenience store, where a store clerk called 911, according to the attorney’s office.
Clay is also accused of sexually abusing a minor whom he “had close access to” between 2012 and 2014, prosecutors said.
The FBI is looking for other possible victims, and anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit the agency’s website: tips.fbi.gov.
Clay was scheduled to appear before a judge in New Mexico on Nov. 14, according to court records. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.
This story was originally published November 14, 2022 at 11:36 AM with the headline "School employee offered girl a ride to a friend’s house, then kidnapped her, feds say."