Defendant used Role as Umpire to Groom and Molest Two Young Victims
A former youth baseball umpire was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 15 years in prison for production of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. JEREMY GREGORY, 36, of Shoreline, Washington was previously sentenced to five years in prison in King County Superior Court for molesting two young boys who he met through youth baseball. The sentences will run concurrently. At the sentencing hearing Chief U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez ordered GREGORY to register as a sex offender as part of his twenty-year term of federal supervision following his prison sentence.
According to records filed in the case, GREGORY befriended the victims’ father and started taking the two boys, then 13 and 11-years-old, to baseball games and amusement parks. GREGORY began providing the boys with items the family could not afford such as cell phones and gift cards. GREGORY groomed the boys, and knowing their limited financial resources, offered the boys money for sexually explicit conduct. Many of the assaults occurred in public restrooms near the fields where GREGORY worked as an umpire. Ultimately, the older victim reported the abuse to his father who immediately contacted police.
A search of GREGORY’s residence and electronic devices revealed more than 2,000 images of child rape and molestation. Law enforcement did not identify any additional victims molested by GREGORY. GREGORY has been in custody since his arrest in July 2015.
GREGORY has a physical ailment that requires the use of a wheelchair. His physical disability played a part in allaying any suspicions of the victims’ father. In asking for the lengthy sentence prosecutors wrote to the court, “The deep emotional pain his actions have caused both victims and their father is immeasurable. The victim’s father is racked with guilt for not appreciating that he was being groomed by Mr. Gregory in order to gain access to the victims for sexual gratification."
The case was investigated by the King County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson. Ms. Gregson is a Senior Deputy King County Prosecuting Attorney specially designated to prosecute child exploitation cases in federal court.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
