UPDATED: Pair arrested on charges related to sexual abuse of child

Staff report

Updated at 7:30 p.m. with additional information about McCray’s arrest.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Linda Ann Lee, 51, and James William McCray, 45, were arrested yesterday on charges related to the sexual abuse of a child.

A Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officer reported that McCray showed his genitals to the child twice in July and told the child to be quiet. The child called a witness and told her that Lee was told about the incidents but didn’t do anything about it.

When the witness arrived and the child got into her car, a man who came with her (the male victim) got out of the car and spoke briefly to McCray. The witness said McCray said he was going to shoot the male victim, but he decided not to because the witness was there. The witness said McCray went to the trunk of Lee’s car and took out a bag, and they feared he was getting a gun from the trunk. However, none of the victims or witnesses reported seeing McCray holding a gun at any time.

After waiting for about 40 minutes for the police to arrive, the witness and the male victim decided to take the child with them, but the male victim reported that McCray, driving Lee’s car, blocked his vehicle from leaving the apartment complex. The male victim reportedly said that McCray eventually moved Lee’s vehicle but then followed them, trying to run their vehicle off the road.

The male victim said that McCray drove ahead of them and then pulled over, and as they drove by, McCray allegedly acted as if he was going to shoot them.

During a forensic interview with the Child Protection Team, the middle-school-aged child reportedly said McCray pulled down his pants and displayed his buttocks and then his genitals; the child described a specific detail about the genitals. The child said that after Lee was told about the incident, she reportedly called McCray into a room and then went to sleep; the child did not feel safe and texted one of the witnesses.

A medical assessment of the victim reportedly produced positive findings for failure to protect, dental and medical neglect, and mental injury. The interview also produced positive findings that McCray sexually exploited the child and used illegal substances.

Lee was interviewed at GPD Headquarters on August 20; post Miranda, she reportedly said the child had told her that McCray had displayed his genitals, but she asked McCray about it and he denied it, so she believed him. Lee reportedly said she had known McCray a long time and he wouldn’t do anything like that. She reportedly confirmed the specific detail about McCray’s genitals that was reported by the child. She said she didn’t believe the child and that there was nothing to report because nothing happened.

When an officer reminded Lee that the child had accurately described the specific detail about McCray’s genitals, Lee reportedly “stayed quiet for a moment and stated that the [child] possibly saw a picture of [McCray’s] genitals in her phone.” Lee reportedly said she hadn’t taken the child to a medical appointment for about a year because she lost the child’s medical card and didn’t have any means of transportation. When the officer asked about her car, Lee reportedly said she got the car three or four months ago.

The officer also noted that Alachua County Sheriff’s Office filed an incident report in 2023 that said Lee and the child were present when a female showed her genitals to a group of children in Majestic Oaks; Lee reportedly said she didn’t recall anything about the exposure of genitals in that incident, but when the officer said a deputy reported that Lee had said at the time that she knew about the incident but didn’t want to file charges against the female, Lee reportedly “turned hesitant” and said she didn’t remember.

Post Miranda, McCray reportedly said Lee never said anything to him about the child’s allegations and the child stayed in her room most of the time; he said the male victim never confronted him, but after the witness and male victim arrived, he went outside to get some air and nothing else happened in the parking lot. He said that when the male victim’s car left, he was picked up by a friend in a car that was reportedly never seen on the surveillance video. McCray reportedly could not provide any information about the friend.

McCray reportedly said the child had never seen him naked, and he had sent nude pictures of himself to Lee, but not recently.

The officer reported that during his interview with McCray, McCray asked to make a phone call, and he explained that McCray was under arrest. He said he told McCray he could not use his cell phone because it would be taken as evidence, but McCray would not give it to him. When the officer started to leave the room, McCray allegedly blocked him from leaving, and he had to call back-up to get out of the room.

Lee has been charged with failing to report suspected child abuse and child neglect without great bodily harm. She has three misdemeanor convictions (one violent) and was arrested in 2019 for domestic battery, but the charge was later dropped. Judge Jonathan Ramsey set bail at $25,000.

McCray has been charged with lewd/lascivious exhibition with a victim under the age of 16, false imprisonment, two counts of aggravated stalking, and resisting an officer without violence. His bail will be set tomorrow.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.