Registered Sex Offender Dad Abducts 14-Year-Old Daughter Lexus Gray In Texas After Assaulting Her Mother
Anyone with information on this case should call the Rains County Sheriff's Office at 903-473-3181
Rains County Sheriff's Office A man abducted his daughter on Wednesday, March 29, after chasing her mother with a knife and assaulting her, authorities said.
Fourteen-year-old Lexus Gray is in “extreme danger” according to the local sheriff’s office. Her father Justin Gray, 40, is the non-custodial parent of Lexus. He is a registered sex offender and is believed to be dangerous.
The Texas teenager is believed to still be in Texas. More specifically, authorities think that she's in the Dallas and Mesquite area.
What happened to Lexus Gray and how is the mother reacting?
According to the press release put out by Rains County Sheriff's Office, Lexus is 5' 6" and 160 pounds. Justin is said to be 6' 1" and 200 pounds. Lexus has blonde hair and Justin has black hair and both have hazel eyes. The press release on Facebook currently has 200 comments and 6,500 shares.
Justin has a parole violation warrant that is currently active. According to the Texas Public Sex Offender Website, Justin was convicted on two counts of sexually assaulting a child as well as one count of indecency with a child via sexual contact.
Lexus’s mother, Jennifer Bean, took to Facebook to urge anyone that knows or sees anything to speak with the police and that she just wants her daughter back home.
“(P)lease (if) anyone sees them or talks to them please notify the cops or I," Bean wrote on Facebook.
In a message to CNN via Facebook Messenger, she said: “I want (L)exie to know we love her very much and want her to come home ... her brother and sister miss her as well."
According to Bean's Facebook, Justin broke her nose and fled her house with Lexus.
Bean has reposted an image to her Facebook story about a woman by the name of Esmeralda Miguel Fernandez who said she saw Justin with Lexus in a titanium Nissan with a hit on the right headlight.
Is referring to Justin as a sex offender misleading?
Justin is Lexus’s non-custodial parent, and he is solely responsible for paying for her financial and medical support as well as court ordered child support.
The man has two counts of sexual assault with a minor as well as one count of indecency with a child, but headlines make it sound as if he's done something similar with his own daughter.
He was deposed in court back in May of 2009. The crimes he committed were against a 16-year-old female, according to the Texas Public Sex Offender Website.
Although Bean said on her Facebook that she feels Lexus is in danger, there is no evidence of sexual violence committed by Justin against Lexus.
Is it more important to refer to the man as a registered sex offender on the Internet or simply as the man who abducted his daughter? Is there a link between his past charges and what he may do to Lexus?
What happens now and where might Justin have taken Lexus?
According to Bean’s Facebook as well as her Facebook story, she resides in Point, Texas and her daughter was last seen with Justin in Witchita. That’s about 3 hours due northwest of Point.
Although it remains unclear as to what the man’s motives may be, especially considering the added implications from clickbait headlines, it is clear the story is gaining lots of media attention that may soon prove to be effective in finding Lexus.
Anyone with information on this case should call 911 or the Rains County Sheriff's Office at 903-473-3181.
Tomás Diniz Santos is a writer living in Orlando, Florida. He covers news, entertainment, and pop-culture topics.