EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – A former El Paso Independent School District administrator was found guilty in Albuquerque by a federal jury of kidnapping and transportation for illegal sexual activity, according to a news release sent out by the U.S. Attorney for New Mexico.
According to evidence presented at trial and other court records, on Aug. 4, 2021, Jeffrey Steven Clay, of Anthony, New Mexico, offered a ride to a woman near Copia Street in Central El Paso, ostensibly to take her to a friend’s residence in El Paso.
At the time, Clay was employed as the executive director of Analytics, Strategy and Assessment and Public Education Information Management Systems for EPISD.
Instead, Clay took the woman to his residence in Anthony. There, Clay attempted to kiss her. When she rebuffed him, Clay struck her in the face and handcuffed her. Clay then took her to a bedroom where he struck her in the face and sexually assaulted her while she was handcuffed, crying, and pleading with Clay to stop. Afterward, Clay drove her back to El Paso. The woman escaped when Clay was stopped at a traffic light and sought help at a nearby convenience store.
At trial, another woman testified that Clay repeatedly sexually abused her as well, both when she was a minor and when she was an adult, including while she was seven months pregnant.
Clay faces up to life in prison. Upon his release from prison, Clay would be subject to registration as a sex offender.
The Las Cruces Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, the El Paso Police Department, and the Third Judicial District of New Mexico District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matilda McCarthy Villalobos and Ry Ellison are prosecuting the case.
The FBI is seeking other potential victims of Clay. Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or report online to tips.fbi.gov.
