REXBURG — A 27-year-old man is facing child sexual abuse material charges after he allegedly fled from officers, and a search of his phone revealed he had multiple explicit images of a 17-year-old girl.
According to court documents, on Feb. 26 at around 3 a.m., an officer with the Rexburg Police Department was parked on U.S. Highway 20 just south of exit 328 when an SUV passed going 125 mph.
A traffic stop was attempted, but the SUV continued heading north and exited on exit 333 before heading east onto Main Street and 2nd West.
Officers lost track of the vehicle, but it was spotted again a few minutes later near Main Street and Pioneer Road. An officer reported the SUV had to travel over 100 mph to reach that intersection in less than three minutes.
A search of the license plate revealed that it belonged to Raymond Anthony Gruce.
The documents state that contact was later made with Gruce, and that a search warrant was executed for the man’s phone.
In a text message to an individual, Gruce stated, “im not sure what can happen idk what they got but i was moving idky wtf i went home.”
In other messages, Gruce says he was on the “run” and didn’t want law enforcement to chase him across the country. The documents do not state if he had a warrant, and a check of his criminal record shows he has had only three misdemeanors since 2024.
During the execution of the search warrant, officers discovered images that involved possible child sexual abuse material.
The phone was seized, and a search discovered multiple images of an underage girl. There were also messages between Gruce and the girl.
One of the messages, from Gruce, asked the girl if she was pregnant and said that he was “a f****** idiot.”
Officers contacted the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky, who identified the girl as a 17-year-old.
Four images were described in the court documents, stating that the girl was seen in those images naked and had been sent to Gruce.
Gruce was questioned at the Madison County Jail about the images, but requested an attorney.
At the jail, Gruce was booked in and charged with four felony counts of possessing child sexual abuse material and felony eluding a peace officer.
If he is found guilty, he faces upwards of 45 years in prison.
Gruce is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing at 1:30 p.m. on March 25 before Magistrate Judge David Hunt.
Though Gruce has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.
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