CHARLESTON – A federal appeals court has dismissed – for now –an appeal seeking to overturn a lower court’s motion to dismiss a case in which a woman claims the former Gauley Bridge police chief sexually abused her when she was a minor.
The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal of woman, identified only as Jane Doe, on August 31 based on lack of jurisdiction.
“We lack appellate jurisdiction to review a district court order that isn’t ‘final,’” the three-judge panel wrote in its unpublished opinion. “Ordinarily, a district court order isn’t ‘final’ unless it resolves all claims for all parties.
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The plaintiff, identified only as Jane Doe, filed her civil complaint in September 2021 against the city and Larry Allen Clay Jr. The plaintiff says she was 17 when she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Clay in June 2020.
In August 2022, a district court judge granted Gauley Bridge’s motion to dismiss and entered a final judgment in the city’s favor. The case was stayed pending Clay’s criminal case. Clay has since been found guilty and awaits sentencing.
In April, Clay was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of a minor via coercion and two counts of obstruction of justice. If convicted, he faces 15 years to life in prison.
“As Doe’s claims against Clay were still pending, the city moved for entry of a final judgment in its favor,” the Fourth Circuit opinion states. “The district court issued a short order granting the motion without explanation.”
In short, the appeals panel couldn’t issue a ruling because the case isn’t completely done. Attorney Steve New, who is representing the plaintiff, told The West Virginia Record the legal team will appeal the Gauley Bridge dismissal again when attorneys can do so after the Clay part of other civil case is determined one way or another.
“Chief Clay’s heinous conduct in this case is one of the worst examples of police misconduct and abuse of power imaginable,” attorney Russell A. Williams, another of Doe’s lawyers, told The Record when the case originally was filed. “We look forward to holding him accountable for his unconscionable violation of our client’s rights and breaching our collective public trust in law enforcement.”
According to the 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, 28, began having an extramarital affair with Clay, who is in his late 50s, 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.
Clay and Naylor-Legg both were charged in federal court for sex trafficking of a minor and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor.
Last week, Naylor-Legg was sentenced to nine years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of a minor, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.
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.
She is represented by Williams and New of New Taylor & Associates in Beckley.
U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals case number 22-2025 (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 2:21-cv-00491)
