John Gray, the board president for the Goshen Local Schools Board of Education, was caught on film by Predator Catchers Indianapolis in Indiana on April 23, 2022, attempting to meet an 11-year-old girl. Gray resigned from the Board the following day. He has not yet been charged with anything. Pictured is the photo and summary of him that used to accompany his name on the Board of Education website.
Gray to decoy 11-year-old: ‘Let’s hang out and see what happens’
Pictured is a screenshot from the YouTube stream of Predators Catchers Indianapolis of Gray being detained by officers with the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department, the Farmland Police Department, and the Parker City Police Department.
Pictured is a screenshot from the YouTube stream of Predator Catchers Indianapolis individuals, including president Eric Schmutt, confronting Gray outside of a Dollar General in Farmland, Indiana.
The Goshen Local Schools Board of Education president has resigned following video of him allegedly attempting to pick-up an 11-year-old in Indiana was streamed to YouTube over the weekend.
John Gray, school board president in his fifth term, resigned from the Board on April 24, following the publication of the video the day prior.
In the video, Gray is seen being detained by law enforcement.
“The content of the video is deeply disturbing to our entire school district and Goshen Local Schools community,” Darrell Edwards, superintendent, said in a press release posted to the District’s website. “To be clear, Saturday’s incident occurred outside of the Goshen Local School district. Our district leaders will be consulting with legal counsel and should more information become available, we will communicate it to our families immediately.”
Edwards added, “Due to the fact that this is an ongoing investigation, we have no other comments at this time.”
The “catch” of Gray was streamed on April 23 by the YouTube channel PCI Predator Catchers Indianapolis. More than 37,000 people to date have watched the nearly 90-minute video.
PCI Indianapolis, or Predator Catchers, Inc., was founded by Eric Schmutt “after realizing the justice system was not stepping up and doing what they should be doing to protect children from predators,” according to the PCI website.
The stated aim of the channel, which was created in December 2020, is “exposing as many online preds as we can.”
Two women, and Schmutt are the ones who confronted Gray in the video. One of the women acted as the decoy 11-year-old, and in the confrontation, pretended to be the mother of the daughter in question to get Gray to talk.
In the video, Gray said he had no intention of doing anything. He also stated he’s 55-years-old, although other records indicate he’s 60-years-old.
When asked how old the girl he was talking to was, he said he thought she was “12 or 13, something like that.”
Gray claimed he told the girl, who he started talking to a week or two ago, that she’s a minor, so “we’re not doing any sexual relations.”
He found her through Kik, the instant messaging app. He claimed to begin messaging her because he’s found “there’s a lot of kids on there that need help, need support.”
He drove to the Dollar General in Farmland, Indiana, about a little more than two hours from where he lives in Clermont County, although he claimed to be going to the airport in Indianapolis for work, so “it was on his way.”
He said his intention was only to give her some snacks, like Gatorade, and gummy bears.
“I mean, there’s no way I would have sex with a 12-year-old girl,” Gray said, when the trio started turning the conversation more confrontational. “I said I don’t know what we’re going to do; let’s just hang out and see what happens.”
He kept repeating that she was “starving” for sex, and attention.
And the women kept him talking, to where Gray then stated he told the girl they could cuddle and watch movies.
“I’m not saying it’s cool, I’m saying it’s okay if it makes her feel better,” he said.
The women persist, keeping him talking, to where Gray admits that he volunteered to the decoy that they could make out. When asked to explain that, he said cuddling and making out are the same thing.
“I said you have beautiful lips, I can say that,” he acknowledged.
The conversation continued, including Gray acknowledging that he wanted to massage her and go even further to “pleasure her.”
“I said only if you want, if you don’t, I’m not doing anything,” he added.
At the end of the video, Gray initially lied about being on the school board, and then admitted he was.
PCI posted to its Facebook page photos that appear to be the one’s Gray sent to the decoy, making “silly” faces.
The Randolph County Sheriff’s Department, the Farmland Police Department and the Parker City Police Department, show up toward the end of the video, and the officers do detain Gray in handcuffs, and search his vehicle.
However, as of April 26, Gray has not been charged with anything, and there is no record of him being arrested.