NORTHAMPTON — A Bel Air, Maryland man will serve four years in state prison for sexually assaulting an Amherst teenager last year, according to the Northwestern district attorney’s office.

David Gray Jr., 42, pleaded guilty in Hampshire Superior Court Tuesday to two counts of statutory rape and one charge of possession of child pornography.

He was sentenced by Judge Richard J. Carey to four years in state prison, to be followed by seven years of supervised probation, a time that he must stay away from all children under 18.

Gray will also be required to register as a sex offender with the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board.

Investigators said that Gray developed a relationship with the teen after meeting her on social media and exchanging hundreds of emails.

He was arrested on Jan. 1, 2021 at a Hadley hotel after police were alerted by the teen’s mother that her daughter was missing.

Carey adopted the sentence jointly proposed by Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Andrew C. Covington and Gray’s attorney, Jonah Goldsmith of the Committee for Public Counsel Services in Northampton.

“We hope this outcome brings some closure and a measure of justice for the survivor,” Covington said in a statement in which he also thanked Amherst and Hadley police for their work on the case.

Covington added that the victim and her family were in favor of the state prison sentence, and relieved the case resolved without a trial.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.]]>