Judge Edward Stein sentenced Gavin Haynes on Mon. Dec. 19, in Covington to five years in prison for taking obscene liberties with a child by a person in a custodial supervision position.
Stein suspended 19 years of the 24-year sentence he handed down, three years per eight counts to which Haynes had pled guilty.
Originally on Jan. 10, 2022, Haynes, a star athlete at Alleghany High School where he had returned after graduating from college to serve as a physical education teacher and coach of junior varsity baseball and basketball teams, was charged with 31 counts of taking obscene liberties with a child by a person in a custodial supervisory position.
Haynes, who also served as a varsity assistant football coach at AHS, admitted to having had an ongoing affair with a high school cheerleader, and she was the first victim to take the stand to testify against Haynes who sat stoically during her testimony.
The victim, a teacher now, recounted the way the affair started and continued during a lengthy statement that chronicled the way they conducted their affair, including the way Haynes had once instructed her in Lexington to hide in the floorboard as Haynes drove near some students that he had taught during summer school.
Judge Stein cited that encounter and others as examples of Hayne’s realization that what he was doing was wrong. He also cited the time that a police officer caught the two of them parked as another example of what he labeled as “snuck around” behavior.
The victim graphically told her story and emphasized the emotional and spiritual damage the affair has wrought upon her life.
The second victim echoed the pain of the first victim during her testimony that revealed the predatory pattern of behavior known as grooming that Haynes had employed to seduce his victims.
Prior to sentencing, Judge Stein admonished the adults who knew about the affair that Haynes was having with the underage cheerleader and noted that their inaction resulted in three more victims that followed the first.
On the eight counts that Haynes pleaded guilty to, each carries a minimum penalty of three years, and Judge Stein opted to impose a five-year probationary period following Haynes’ serving of his five-year term.
He also pointed out that Haynes would be barred from being around children at public playgrounds and other public places.
Haynes had hoped to receive a favorable ruling from Judge Stein that would have allowed him to continue serving time during the probationary period during which he would continue counseling sessions, and medical therapy and be able to provide for his six-year-old son without having to serve jail time.
Prior to his sentencing, the results of a professional evaluation of Haynes’ personality that painted him as a low risk for repeating future offenses was presented during an hour-long discussion of his past and current situation during which he established his lawn care business that has enabled him to provide for his son while waiting for his day in court.
The Commonwealth Attorney Ann Gardner called for punishment for what Haynes did, and she emphasized that he victimized more than one underage female during a ten-year period, labeling Haynes as a predator who acted out of self-gratification rather than by impulse.
Gardner looked across the courtroom at Haynes and remarked, “You knew it for 10 years and kept doing it.”
She pointed out to Judge Stein that children go to school to be protected from outside dangers. Then she posed the question, “What about danger in the school?”
Gardner concluded by recounting the manipulation and grooming that took place in what should have been a safe environment for the victims.
Haynes, who testified that his son “…is my world,” was visibly shaken at Judge Stein’s pronouncement of his verdict.
(Editor’s note: Commonwealth Attorney Ann Gardner presented the following evidence to Judge Edward Stein and the Alleghany County Circuit Court, omitting the names of the victims due to the fact that all the female students who are identified as Victims were under 18 when the offenses took place. On Mon., Dec. 19, in the courtroom, Haynes expressed his remorse but denied that two offenses Gardner questioned him about ever happened.)
COMMONWEALTH V. GAVIN HAYNES
“These offenses all occurred in Alleghany County on or between the dates alleged in the indictment. The victims were all students under the age of eighteen years and the Defendant occupied a custodial position as a coach and/or teacher at Alleghany High School during the time these incidents occurred while he was at least 18 years of age or older. For the purposes of this summary the four victims, some of whom are present in court today, will be identified by initials only (editor’s note: now Victim 1, Victim 2, Victim 3, and Victim 4.) They have each been consulted concerning the terms of this plea agreement and are all in support thereof.
“The offenses against Victim 1 occurred in Alleghany County on or between the dates alleged in the indictments, June 10, 2010 and May 31, 2022. Defendant’s relationship with victim ONE, began by messaging her when she was 16 years old. She was a student and a cheerleader at Alleghany High School. Shortly after her 17th birthday Defendant met her at Linden Park in Clifton Forge. What started as flirtatious messaging turned into Defendant proposing sexual activity. Defendant would meet Victim ONE at a dead end street up in area known as the Heights. They began to engage in sexual activity including sodomy and digital penetration. On one occasion, Officer Crowder from the Clifton Forge Police Department caught Defendant late at night together with Victim ONE in a vehicle. Officer Crowder would testify that Victim ONE was a juvenile at the time so he removed her from the situation and had her get in her car and follow him to her house where he spoke to her mother. Victim ONE’S mother would testify that she was aware of the relationship between her daughter and Defendant while she was under 18. The sexual activity continued with increasing frequency and eventually began to include sexual intercourse. The sexual acts proscribed in the code section under which Defendant is charged (including sodomy, digital penetration and sexual intercourse) occurred multiple times each month during the dates alleged in the indictments while Victim ONE was less than 18 years old. While this sexual activity was going on, Victim ONE observed message from Defendant on Victim TWO’S (another juvenile student’s) phone. Charges involving Victim TWO will be summarized later. The relationship between Defendant and Victim ONE extended beyond Victim ONE’S 18th birthday after which it became public knowledge.
“The offenses involving Victim TWO all occurred during the time period alleged in the indictment, August 1, 2010 to May 31, 2012, while Victim TWO was a student at Alleghany High School and was less than 18 years of age and while Defendant occupied a custodial or supervisory relationship over her. The relationship began with Defendant making inappropriate comments and remarks to her while in gym class. During her junior year at AHS, Victim TWO kept the books for the basketball team while Defendant was a coach. Defendant started texting Victim TWO regarding basketball; however, the texting soon turned to sexual content wherein Defendant would propose that he perform sexual acts with Victim TWO. Defendant’s contact with Victim TWO became physical when he kissed her in the back corner of the health classroom located at the end of the wheelchair ramp. Victim TWO stated that this was inappropriate and felt weird so the physical contact did not progress beyond kissing; however, Defendant, on numerous occasions, proposed sexual acts prohibited by the code section under which he is charged.
“Victim TWO recalled the incident in ecology class when she and Victim ONE were going through each other’s phones and realized that Defendant was messaging both of them. Also, while Defendant was sending inappropriate text messages to Victim TWO, her father became aware of the messages. Victim TWO’s father, who was a law enforcement officer himself, would testify that he went to the school and demanded that the inappropriate messages from Defendant stop.
“The offenses committed against Victim THREE all took place while she was a student at AHS who was under the age of 18 years while Defendant was an adult in a custodial or supervisory relationship over her. These offenses occurred on or between the dates alleged in the indictments, August 1, 2012 and May 13, 2015, in Alleghany County. Defendant was Victim THREE’S gym/health teacher while she was in school. Victim THREE also played volleyball while Defendant was coaching over sports and they would see each other during practices. As their relationship developed, Defendant and Victim THREE would meet in the health room in the high school at the bottom of the ramp during lunch. There, in the health room, Defendant would tongue kiss Victim THREE and the two would fondle each other’s sexual parts on top of their clothing. This occurred multiple times.
“In addition to being a student athlete, Victim THREE was a record keeper for the basketball team while Defendant coached. Victim THREE would ride the bus with the team and sit up front since she was the only girl on the bus. On one occasion, Defendant proposed that Victim THREE reach around the bus seat and fondle his genitals. Defendant frequently communicated with Victim THREE by Facebook messaging. In April of 2014, Defendant messaged Victim THREE that she “owed him” and Defendant gave Victim THREE three options: a kiss, BJ or hug. She saved the messages which S. A. Morris of the Virginia State Police was able to recover from both Facebook and Victim THREE’S phone. Defendant planned for Victim THREE to meet him in the boys’ locker room at AHS after a game one night during this time period in 2014. They planned to wait around for everyone else to leave. Victim THREE waited in her car in the front of the school for everyone else to leave after which Defendant took Victim THREE back to the locker room where he had her perform fellatio on him. Another student witnessed the sexual messages from Defendant on Victim THREE’S phone. Other students recalled Victim THREE making a recent account of giving Defendant a “blow job” at the time. CA EXHIBIT #1. (Facebook messages from Defendant dated 4/10/2014 proposing fellatio and discussion meeting in health room).
“The offenses with Victim FOUR occurred while she was a student at AHS under the age of 18 and Defendant occupied a custodial or supervisory position over her. These offenses occurred on or between the dates alleged in the indictments, August 1, 2016 and May 31, 2020 in Alleghany County. Victim FOUR would testify that Defendant made comments to her about the size of her “butt” as far back as her freshman year. Defendant began talking to her about “sexual stuff” around her 10th-grade year when she was in gym and Defendant was around her frequently. These conversations happened during school and they were in person. At one point Defendant kissed Victim FOUR in the weight room. On multiple occasions, Defendant proposed that Victim FOUR engage in sexual acts prohibited by the code section under which he is charged. Among other prohibited acts, Defendant’s proposals included “Do you wanna such my dick?” and “Do you wanna go somewhere and have sex?” Defendant made these proposals to Victim FOUR many times over the course of her time at AHS while she was under 18.”
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