Guilty plea for Reynold's High School assailant

Posted Nov. 29, 2021

By Ethan Donahue

Staff Editor

Local landlord Gregory Ivory pleaded guilty to abusing a Reynold's High School student multiple times in the school parking lot, starting when he was 62 and she was 15. The student is now filing a lawsuit against Reynolds HS.

Ivory is now serving a 48-month sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree online sexual corruption of a child, third-degree sexual abuse, and using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct. Ivory will be required to register as a sex offender and stay on probation at most 60 months after serving his sentence. With credit for time served, his earliest release date is in May, 2023. The lawsuit, which is seeking $2.5 million, asserts that the school is liable for negligence because district employees never intervened or asked Ivory to leave during numerous furtive meetings on school grounds.

"The criminal matter is resolved and our client is thankful that the criminal justice system brought the perpetrator to justice," said William Macke, the attorney representing the student. "She feels it is necessary to move forward with this civil lawsuit to bring to light safety concerns around how security is handled and visitors are monitored on the Reynolds High School campus."

According to court documents, Ivory and the student met as neighbors when she was five. They began exchanging letters when she was 15, after a couple of months Ivory then provided her with a secret phone so they could communicate. The two texted sexually explicit messages and traded nude photographs. The lawsuit and court docs state that Ivory parked his truck in the Reynold's HS parking lot at least 60 times throughout 2019 and 2020 and sexually abused the student on many of those occasions.

“She did not want to have sex until she was married,” the criminal affidavit said. “Mr. Ivory then bought her a fake diamond ring.”

In March 2020, the student’s parents found the secret phone which held all of the text messages. Her parents then conducted a recorded “pretext call” during which Ivory admitted to partaking in to start conversations. After the criminal activity was brought to light, Ivory’s gifts and inappropriate notes were found in the student’s locker.

The lawsuit alleges that ivory “regularly trespassed unimpeded” onto school property, usually during the beginning of the student’s lunch period which lead to the student having marked absences between 5th and 7th period. The school failed to follow the rule of having the campus closed between 8 a.m. and 3:06 p.m. which is listed in the student handbook.

“[Reynolds] failed to meaningfully intervene or otherwise attempt to address the recurring absences except for initiating automated phone calls to [redacted] parents,” the lawsuit states. “One or more teachers witnessed [the student] exiting the school and walking to the school parking lot but never inquired as to [the student’s] activities.”