Girls Say Former Spavinaw Police Chief Molested Them For Years

A former Green Country police chief is on trial for lewd molestation. A teenage girl testified Tuesday that 77-year-old Clarence Gregory would take her into his garage and touch her inappropriately.

The former Spavinaw police chief is accused of doing that with two girls. 

Both girls took the witness stand, saying Gregory groped their breasts and touched other intimate body parts over several years.  His defense says Gregory was only trying to teach them about their own bodies. 

The first witness, a 16-year-old girl, says Gregory would ask her to pull up her shirt and fondle her breasts.   She says it happened over the course of eight or nine years, and near the end - last summer - it was happening nearly every day. 

She told the Court she listened to Gregory because it was, quote: "Kind of like I was programmed or trained to do something." 

When asked why she told her mom, the witness said, "I felt like I couldn't go on like that any more."

10/16/2014 Related Story: Judge Denies DA's Request To Revoke Spavinaw Police Chief's Bond

With the help of a therapy dog, the second witness, a 15-year-old, told the Court Gregory would sometimes hug her from behind and squeeze her breasts.  But Gregory's lawyer says he was only trying to teach the girls about their bodies. 

"Mr. Gregory, honestly, was very concerned for those girls. I mean. He didn't think they were getting the parental supervision they needed," said attorney Dale Ellis.

The defense also suggested the girls were coached into giving their stories, and the truth was stretched. 

"Frankly, at best, they're grossly exaggerated. At worst, they're completely made up," Ellis said.

But prosecutors say the girls' accusations should be taken seriously.

The best thing that we can ever hope for is that justice is done for every victim of child abuse, whether it's physical, whether it's sexual abuse," said Kali Strain, Mayes County Assistant District Attorney.

Prosecutors played an audio recording of Gregory's July 2015 interview with OSBI agents for the court, in which Gregory admitted to touching the two girls.

"I did touch them," says Gregory in the recording. "I told them, 'Don't let boys do this to you [...] I don't deny it."

Later on in the interview, Gregory says, "I said, 'Raise your blouse. Let's see if you've been messing around. That one's prettier than that one.'"

Gregory says he touched one of the victims under her clothing, but not the other.

Gregory served as Spavinaw police chief for about a year.  He also served as school board president and volunteered as a boys and girls basketball coach for many years.