Larry A. Clay Jr.
CHARLESTON – The young woman at the center of a sex trafficking scandal involving a former Fayette County police chief is asking for more time to work on her civil lawsuit.
The woman, identified only as Jane Doe in court filings, filed a motion to vacate the scheduling order last month from U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston following several delays related to Larry A. Clay Jr.’s sentencing last year.
She filed her civil lawsuit against Clay and Gauley Bridge in 2021. Clay was Gauley Bridge’s police chief when the incidents occurred in 2020.
In the accompanying memorandum in support of the motion, Jane Doe’s attorneys Steve New and Emily D. Wooldridge say the parties were actively engaged in discovery and were scheduling depositions when attorney Cy A. Hill Jr. filed a motion to withdraw as Clay’s attorney on April 29.
The memorandum says Doe’s deposition occurred on March 7 but was suspended because of scheduling conflicts. It says the rest of her deposition has yet to be taken. Clay was deposed April 23.
If Hill’s motion to withdraw is granted, Doe’s attorneys say the schedule set by Johnston should be continued for 180 days. If new counsel isn’t appointed or retained, Clay also would have to attend depositions. That would require help from the federal prison system to get him to the depositions or to allow him to attend remotely.
Clay, 58, was sentenced in December to 25 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for sex trafficking the then 17-year-old plaintiff and obstructing the resulting investigation. He also was ordered to pay $80,000 in restitution and must register as a sex offender.
In addition to being Gauley Bridge’s police chief, Clay also was a Fayette County deputy sheriff at the time of the offenses. That included paying $100 to co-defendant Kristen Naylor-Legg to have sex with the minor on two occasions in June 2020.
During both incidents, Clay wore his Gauley Bridge police uniform, badge, duty belt and service firearm. The first incident occurred at or near Clay’s Gauley Bridge-issued vehicle on a rural Fayette County road. The second incident took place inside the former Gauley Bridge High School in a basement office reserved for the Gauley Bridge Police Department. Investigators were able to retrieve DNA evidence from a washcloth discarded in the office.
After the minor female reported both incidents, Clay sought to persuade Naylor-Legg to lie to law enforcement about what happened. Clay also asked a law enforcement officer if his criminal conduct could be covered up.
Following four days of trial, a federal jury found Clay guilty on April 28, 2023, of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of a minor via coercion, sex trafficking of a minor via coercion, and two counts of obstruction of justice.
“Today’s sentence reflects the incalculable harm Larry Allen Clay Jr. inflicted on his minor victim, his community, and the public’s trust of law enforcement,” then-U.S. Attorney Will Thompson said in December. “He failed his oath to protect the public and uphold the law.
“But Clay also failed to anticipate his victim’s courage. Despite everything she endured, she came forward. Because of this survivor’s bravery and resolve, he was brought to justice.”
Naylor-Legg, 31, was sentenced to nine years in prison on August 31, 2023, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of a minor under the age of 18.
According to her civil complaint, the plaintiff was living with and in the custody of her ex-stepfather Charles Legg and his wife Kristen Naylor-Legg. She says Naylor-Legg, began having an extramarital affair with Clay in April or May of 2020.
“At some point thereafter, Chief Clay expressed to Mrs. Naylor-Legg that he was sexually interested in plaintiff, even though he knew plaintiff was a minor,” the complaint states. “Chief Clay expressed to Mrs. Naylor-Legg that he would pay plaintiff to touch herself in a sexual way while he and Mrs. Naylor-Legg had sexual intercourse.”
In June 2020, the plaintiff says Naylor-Legg began taking cell phone photos of her naked breasts and buttocks to send to Clay and others in exchange for money.
At a high school graduation party soon thereafter, the plaintiff says Clay began following her around “continually trying to get physically close to her.” After the party, Naylor-Legg told the plaintiff Clay was sexually interested in her.
“Naylor-Legg expressed to plaintiff that if she did not begin showing more interest in Chief Clay, she would throw plaintiff out of the house, leaving her to live on the street,” the complaint states.
Soon, the plaintiff says Naylor-Legg arranged for the plaintiff to have sexual intercourse with Clay in exchange for money. She says he knew she still was a minor because he and Naylor-Legg had discussed her upcoming 18th birthday.
“Naylor-Legg told plaintiff that she needed to have sexual intercourse with Chief Clay in exchange for money because the family needed the funds to keep the utilities on in their home,” the complaint states. “On the evening in question, Mrs. Naylor-Legg drove plaintiff to a remote location on Cain Branch Road, just outside of the City of Gauley Bridge, to meet Chief Clay.”
There, the plaintiff claims, the on-duty chief arrived in his police cruiser. Wearing his uniform, he unzipped his pants and ordered the plaintiff to perform oral sex on him. Then, she says he bent her over the side of his cruiser and had sexual intercourse with her. He then paid Naylor-Legg $50 in cash and told the plaintiff to “keep her mouth shut” about what had happened and not to “tell anyone.”
The plaintiff says another minor female was in the vehicle and witnessed the encounter. The complaint says the other minor female says Naylor-Legg told the plaintiff she “had to do this” and that she “can’t back out now.”
Later in June, the plaintiff says Naylor-Legg against arranged for her to have intercourse with Clay for money. This time, she says it was at the former Gauley Bridge High School, which now houses City Hall and the police department. Again, she says Clay was on duty at the time and was wearing his uniform. This time, the plaintiff says Clay ejaculated inside of her. She says Naylor-Legg told her to let him do so because he was supposedly “fixed.” He again paid Naylor-Legg $50 in cash.
“After Chief Clay finished, Mrs. Naylor-Legg gave plaintiff some paper towels to clean herself with,” the complaint states. “After cleaning herself, plaintiff threw the paper towels in the corner of the room.”
There was at least one time Naylor-Legg arranged for the plaintiff to have sex with another member of the Gauley Bridge Police Department for money. He has yet to be identified, but he declined to do so when he learned she was a minor.
The plaintiff reported the second event with Clay to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, and an investigation by the State Police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ensued. The paper towels used by the plaintiff to clean herself were found and tested for DNA, and it matched Clay.
In the civil complaint, Jane Doe accuses the defendants of violating her 14th Amendment right to due process by inflicting physical harm, assault, battery, negligence, gross negligence, prima facie negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring, negligent supervision and negligent retention.
“The grotesque actions of Chief Clay … were objectively unreasonable and were in violation of clearly established law … violated plaintiff’s right to liberty, bodily integrity, privacy and personal autonomy … deliberately injured plaintiff in a way unjustified by any government interest ... shock the conscious … (and) were unlawful,” the complaint states.
The plaintiff says she has suffered severe and permanent physical and emotional injuries and seeks compensatory damages for past and future medical expenses and other economic and noneconomic damages, past and future pain and suffering, past and future impairment of the capacity to enjoy life, annoyance, aggravation, inconvenience and mental anguish.
She also seeks attorney fees, court costs, pre- and post-judgment interest and other relief. In addition, she seeks punitive damages.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 2:21-cv-00491rr
