GREGORY
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A Union County Grand Jury has added charges against a Richwood man after prosecutors interviewed witnesses.
Earlier this summer, Terry Ray Gregory, 30, of Richwood, whose court-listed address is the Tri-County Regional Jail in Mechanicsburg, was indicted on three counts of abduction and one count of felony domestic violence.
Recently the grand jury added an abduction charge and four kidnapping charges to the indictment. If convicted on all counts, Gregory cold face as many as 45 years in prison.
Union County Prosecutor Dave Phillips said that after talking with the victims, prosecutors made the determination that Gregory was holding them, not just to restrain them, “but to terrorize them.”
“He placed them in fear,” Phillips said. “They couldn’t leave, he kept them there for a substantial period of time, for the purpose of terrorizing them.”
Phillips said that while it is “a matter of degrees” the added element of terror changes how the law looks at crimes.
He said people generally think of kidnapping as one person, taking another person, child or adult.
“Kidnapping is also restraining the liberty of someone who wants to leave,” said Phillips.
He said that as investigators spoke with the victims, it became clear that Gregory’s actions went beyond simple fear to holding the people with the intent to terrorize them.
Phillips said that on the evening of June 18, Gregory and his girlfriend were at a home in the 100 block of Forest Lane in Richwood when they began arguing. He said there had been some allegations of infidelity that led to the argument.
During the argument, Gregory allegedly shoved the woman in a bedroom.
“He allegedly said he would kill her, that he would allegedly blow up her car,” said Phillips.
The prosecutor said Gregory held the woman and her 14-year-old son in the bedroom, “for a substantial period of time.” According to court documents, a 3-year-old child was also in the home at the time of the alleged incident.
At some point the argument moved into a vehicle. The woman repeatedly tried to get out, Phillips said, and each time Gregory allegedly stopped her.
The prosecutor said Gregory grabbed the woman so hard it “caused visible bruising.” The pair caused a commotion to the point that a bystander saw and notified police.
The prosecutor said the woman eventually came to the Richwood Police Department to report the incident and Gregory was arrested.
Gregory is no stranger to the process. Usually, a first offense of domestic violence is charged as a misdemeanor.
Once an individual has a domestic violence conviction, future allegations are charged as felonies. Gregory has a pair of prior domestic violence convictions, one in 2008 and one in 2016, both in Franklin County. Neither conviction involved the current victim.
Because of the two prior convictions, the current allegation is charged as a third degree felony.