With a Tennessee trial date approaching this fall, Larry Rayford was released on recognizance Wednesday afternoon in Christian County Circuit Court — yet given certain written conditions by Judge Andrew Self, of which to abide.
Charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, two counts of third-degree rape and one count of third-degree sodomy, Self ordered him to have no contact with an alleged victim, no contact with anyone under the age of 18, to travel nowhere except home, work, his attorney’s office, the court room, medical treatment or religious purpose, and to report back for a pre-trial conference set for 1 PM August 23.
Rayford told the court his trial in Clarksville has been set for September, and Self said the situation warranted monitoring before Christian County assessed potential prosecution.
Recently incarcerated in Ohio and subsequently released, Rayford is a former senior pastor of a Clarksville church known as “The Ship Ministries.” Nine months ago, he posted to LinkedIn he was “looking for a new role” and thanked anyone in advance for connections, advice or opportunities offered.
On January 25, 2022, clarksvillenow.com reported Rayford had been arrested in Michigan while visiting family. He’d been indicted in August 2021 by a Montgomery County grand jury on two counts of rape and two counts of statutory rape regarding a pair of teenagers — who a year prior were aged 13 and 15 when the events in question occurred.
On January 26, 2022, WKRN 2 out of Nashville reported that the mother of the two victims, Shauntae Fletcher, had heard from her two daughters that the incident occurred in 2020, and that she “couldn’t believe it” and was “shocked,” but had been waiting more than a year for clarity.
On January 28, 2022, Your News Edge reported that a true bill had been returned from a Christian County grand jury for Rayford, then 43 years old, and that according to the indictment, Rayford was a “person in a position of authority, or a person of special trust” when — between July 1 and October 30 of 2020 — he engaged in sexual intercourse with a minor.
Since then, Rayford’s wife — Tiana — has issued multiple statement’s claiming her husband’s innocence.
He has a previous domestic assault conviction from 2007, as well as a retired child abuse case from 2016.
Self asserted Wednesday that before the September trial in Tennessee, it would be important to gauge how aggressive Stephanie Bolen and the Commonwealth would want to be, but that nothing seemed likely until Montgomery County resolves its trial.
