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Former Gulf Breeze Mayor, CTA Boss Ed Gray Sentenced To Prison

Former Gulf Breeze Mayor Edward “Ed” Merrill Gray III has been sentenced to five years in state prison for secretly recording teen boys in his shower.

He will be on community control — house arrest — for two years after his release from prison. That will be followed by three years probation.

In September 2020, agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested Gray on eight counts of video voyeurism, one count of interception of oral communication and the misdemeanor charges of stalking and installation of a tracking device. In July, Gray pleaded no contest to the charges.

Gray is the former mayor of Gulf Breeze and was later employed by the City of Gulf Breeze as executive director of the Capital Trust Agency (CTA). Century serves as a second signature for CTA. Gray’s arrest was not related to his government service, and he resigned from CTA prior to his arrest.

Gray allegedly made secret video recordings of  teen boys inside his home and allegedly stalked them using a GPS tracker.

An 18-year male that did various jobs around Gray’s home told Gulf Breeze Police that he located a video camera concealed in a shoebox in the master bedroom closet where he had changed clothes multiple time prior to showering in the past year. Gulf Breeze Police handed the investigation off to FDLE.

The victim told FDLE investigators that Gray became more controlling and intruded in his personal life by tracking his movements. He said in one incident, Gray located him at a park in Pensacola and believed he was tracking him through his phone.  In another incident, the victim said he told Gray he was home sick, but Gray confronted him on the phone and told him that he knew he was at a friend’s home.

Gray told FDLE that the hidden camera was initially turned on to watch an air conditioning repair man, but he decided to turn it back on because he was suspicious that the teen was possibly sexting in his master bedroom. He eventually admitted that the recording did capture the victim undressing, according to an arrest affidavit.

FDLE executed a search warrant at Gray’s home on August 3, with FDLE seizing devices with eight videos that captured four males nude or undressing in Gray’s master bedroom. A majority of the videos showed Gray starting the camera prior to individuals coming into the bathroom. The victims have all been identified by authorities. FDLE also located about 160 screenshots showing GPS locations, and they said he had installed a tracker on at least one victim’s vehicle.

At least one of the victims was 17-years old.

Top: NorthEscambia.com photo.