GCPD charge man with multiple child sex offenses

On Tuesday, July 11, detectives with the Gaston County Police Criminal Investigations Unit and F.A.S.T. (Fugitive Apprehension and Suspect Tracking) team members served a search warrant and arrested Steven Ray Stafford, age 53, at his residence, 101 Stoneys Dr. Gastonia, NC.

Stafford has been charged with ten (10) felony counts of Indecent Liberties with a Minor, one (1) felony count of Statutory Sex Offense with a Child under age 13 and one (1) felony count of Sell/Delivery of a Controlled Substance. He is currently being held at the Gaston County Jail without bond pending a first appearance in District Court.

The charges in this case

STEVEN RAY STAFFORD

stem from an investigation of child sexual abuse involving a child living in the same neighborhood as Stafford that was reported to the County Police in June 2023.

The Gaston County Police would like to thank our partner public safety agencies, the Gaston County District Attorney’s Office, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the Gaston County Child Advocacy Center for their assistance in this investigation.

Although Steven Ray Stafford is in custody, the investigation into this case is on-going. Anyone with information about the investigation is asked to contact the Gaston County Police at 704-866-3320 or Crimestoppers at 704-8618000. A Crimestoppers reward of up to $1,000 is available for information pertinent to the investigation. There is no further information currently available.

Senator

Human Trafficking, a bill he introduced that creates a statutory right for victims to seek permanent, lifetime no-contact orders against their trafficker, and expands the crime of Human Trafficking and sexual servitude to include patronizing and soliciting to mirror federal law, and protects the trafficked victim from being denied an award from the Crime Victim Compensation Fund if the victim commits a misdemeanor due to coercion perpetrated upon them by their trafficker.

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107 he harvested total of blueberries. But this year, he explains, “I use the word overwhelmed. Overwhelmed just does not begin to describe it. So many berries got ripe quickly and those were in large clusters of 20 or more. Once I got up on the ladder, I just couldn’t believe it. They blueberries were hanging everywhere, almost like Concord grapes.”

When he began growing blueberries back in 1980, he did his research ahead of time and that investment pays off year after year. At the time, he was working at Foote Mineral. “The instructions said to find an old sawdust pile and gather the sawdust. The older the pile, the better. Then I dug a hole bigger than normal, put the plant in, placed the sawdust around it, and filled the hole with soil. The instructions said to ‘check your pH,’ so I put some dirt in distilled water and put in a pH probe. For blueberries, the soil needs to be acidic,” he explained. “I was off on the pH, so I went to the Farm Center and picked up some Aluminum Sulfate and worked that into the soil. A week later, I tested again. And Bingo, it was right, around 5.7 or 5.8! I have never touched them since. I just watch them and water if it gets too dry.”

As the berry picking season winds down, Lawrence knows he only has a few weeks left before the berries are done. “There comes a time with the bushes tell you they are done for the season,” he says.

He has promised to share his final count with the Herald.

If you see Lawrence out, be sure to say hello. He has lived in Kings Mountain his whole life. His parents moved into the house where he lives in October 1943,

Photo provided where they raised their eight children. This year marks 80 years his family has owned the land on Bridges Street, “When we moved here, none of what you see now existed. The bypass didn’t exist,” he shared. He attended Central School from First through 12th grade. He served his country in Korea for 14 months and was discharged on December 9, 1963. And then he had his career at Foote Mineral working in the lab.

Lawrence takes immense joy in his blueberries, picking them early in the day, or late in the afternoon. He shares his harvest with friends and reminds us that life is made up of the little things that are most important. He starts his day with blueberries on his cereal and ends it with blueberries on his ice cream. It just doesn’t get better than that!