Erie man twice impregnated a girl – His prison sentence could hit 160 years

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(USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect) – A 38-year-old Erie, PA man is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of as long as 50 years in state prison for twice impregnating a girl — once when she was 12 and again when she was 13.

His maximum sentence could reach 160 years, according to the plea agreement.

The defendant, Lavon E. Gray, pleaded guilty to two counts of rape of a child and three other charges just as jury selection in his trial was set to start on June 8 in Erie County Common Pleas Court.

The District Attorney’s Office had DNA linking Gray to the children. The first was born in late 2022 and the second in the fall of 2023, according to court records. The children are no longer in the custody of their mother, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

The District Attorney’s Office was also prepared to present evidence at trial that Gray raped the girl nearly every day from the spring of 2022 to the fall of 2023, said the lead prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Shane Kaliszewski.

The girl was scheduled to testify at trial. She had also been ready to testify at Gray’s preliminary hearing, in January. Gray waived the charges to court without a hearing.

The District Attorney’s Office agreed to the plea deal partly to spare the girl from having to testify at trial, Kaliszewski said. He declined further comment until after Gray’s sentencing on Aug. 3 before Senior Erie County Judge William R. Cunningham, who accepted the plea.

Gray’s court-appointed lawyer, Nicci Page, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Gray faces a maximum sentence of 160 years in state prison for the five charges to which he pleaded guilty.

All the charges are first-degree felonies. They are the two counts of a rape of a child and one count each of rape with the threat of forcible compulsion, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child and aggravated indecent assault of a child.

Each of the five charges carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in state prison because of the age of the victim, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Gray will get a mandatory minimum sentence of 50 years if the judge runs the sentences on each count consecutive to one another.

Gray is currently serving a state prison sentence of one to 10 years for aggravated assault and unlawfully possessing a firearm in Erie, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced in October 2024.

The Erie police started investigating the rape case in January 2024 after the department received a report of abuse from the Erie County Office of Children and Youth, according to the criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause.

The police had DNA tests performed and interviewed the girl, who said Gray sexually assaulted her, according to the affidavit. Police charged Gray in December 2025.

Gray initially faced 29 counts, mostly felonies. The District Attorney’s Office dropped 24 charges.

Even with the plea bargain, Gray still faces a sentence that could keep him incarcerated for the rest of his life.