JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The man who disrupted a Human Rights Ordinance meeting last week with claims that he molested children for years and was never arrested told News4Jax Tuesday that his parents sold him to a man who made him do things to young boys.
Roy Bay admitted to molesting young boys in the 1970s and 1980s and said the man he was sold to is now dead. Bay said the man sexually abused him, arranged the meetings with the boys in Riverside, and that the assaults took place on Herschel Street, at Memorial Park and in Missouri.
News4Jax is not naming the man Bay accuses of abusing him.
Bay said he's cooperating with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, which is looking for victims to come forward. So far, none have, police said.
Bay said he became a born-again Christian when he was 26 and hasn't molested anyone since 1985. His suppressed memory came back recently after an accident, he said.
“Yes I did because that’s the way that I was. I didn’t know any better. At the age of 10 to 12 years old, I was sexually molested for two years,” Bay said. “Later on in life, I was sold into sex trafficking into the lifestyle of homosexuality by my parents to a gentleman, who is now dead. He died two years ago. I was in that lifestyle for 15 years.”
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said no matter how outrageous Bay’s claims of sexually abusing boys are, investigators still have a lot to look into before taking their next step.
“It’s like any other time police make an arrest,” Smith said. “You can’t just go throw someone in jail. You have to have probable cause that a crime has been committed.”
Bay said that at the time he did not know what he was doing was wrong, but that he is willing to take responsibility for his actions. He said that if a victim comes forward and he is arrested, tried and convicted, he understands he would pay the price and go to prison.
Smith explained one of the most crucial steps for authorities will be to determine if Bay is mentally competent and to find any of the victims Bay claims to have.
“He is making a lot of allegations saying he did several things to different children,” Smith said. “Some people forced him to do things, some people sold him; he’s making a lot of different allegations. I’m not saying that it’s not valid, but they just have to be proven.”
Police investigating abuse claims
JSO again asked for help Tuesday in identifying possible victims of Bay, who came to the attention of police after he told the City Council during a meeting on the HRO proposals that he routinely molested children and was never arrested.
“I lived most of my life sexually assaulting kids and never went to jail. Because why? Kids believed me that, 'Hey, this is, you’re alright, son. This is not a problem. OK? This happens in homosexual lifestyle,'” Bay said at the meeting.
As a result of Bay’s statements, the JSO Special Assault Unit launched an investigation. Information developed during the investigation indicates there are possibly sex crime victims from the Jacksonville area related to Bay’s statements.
Police provided an updated picture, provided by Bay, taken in the mid-1980s. Investigators are asking anyone with information that might help identify potential victims or who might have information about Bay and anyone associated with him to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.
Possible victims may include white males who were between 10 and 18 years of age at the time, police said. Authorities said Bay may have acted alone or with another adult white male. Further indications are that these events may have occurred as long ago as 1980.
Bay frequented Memorial Park, the Riverside area and the Murray Hill area of Jacksonville, but additional areas are a possibility as well.
When Bay made his statement the meeting nearly stopped. He was speaking against the ordinance, saying homosexuals don’t need the protection.
Bay said he was molesting kids in restrooms most of his life, he’s never been charged with a crime and there is no record he ever did it. He walked out of the meeting and went home in a church van with others.
News4Jax researched Bay’s prior criminal history and found he was arrested in 2007 for driving with a suspended or revoked license. In 2008, he was again arrested for driving with a suspended or revoked license and for civil contempt. Most recently he was arrested for an out-of-county warrant. All those arrests were made by JSO, and the last arrest led to an address for a house on the Westside owned by the Evangel Temple.
News4Jax also found records that indicated Bay got married at the church in 2003.
Church's response to Bay
Pastor Gary Wiggins of Evangel Temple said he was shocked about what was said at the meeting. Wiggins said Bay had worked several years as a maintenance man but that job ended in September and that Bay and his wife still lived on the property.
“We had no knowledge of his claims he made before the City Council until last night. In response to his [Bay] claims the church is taking appropriate actions to safeguard the families and children of our congregation,” Wiggins said. “We encourage and want the police to do a full investigation serving justice as appropriate.”
Wiggins told his congregation that the church’s doors are open anyone and with that comes people who are broken and many times turn to the church for help. The congregation prayed over the Bay situation.
After a Wednesday night service at Evangel Temple, Wiggins told the congregation about what happened at the City Council meeting.
The church did not allow cameras inside the service. Wiggins did mention there are no background checks for those walking into service, but there are for leaders and that there are times when people, who have made mistakes, come into the church to be healed.
While it was hard to tell church members about Bay’s public comment, the response of prayer and forgiveness could be felt throughout the sanctuary, Wiggins said.
The church is allowing Bay in services, but with conditions. Wiggins said detectives have already been on site, but they are taking their own steps to protect the congregation.
“Part of that is going to be restricting any possible contact with children and young people. He will be allowed to come to the church service and seated in an appropriate spot which will be watched by our security,” Wiggins said.