PENDLETON, Ore. — A former Oregon Youth Authority employee accused of having a sexual relationship with a teenage girl he supervised in juvenile prison has pleaded not guilty to charges of official misconduct and custodial sexual misconduct.
The East Oregonian reports Oregon State Police began investigating Gary Cross last year when the Youth Authority reported a possible relationship between the 38-year-old man and a former inmate at Oak Creek, a correctional facility for young women in Albany.
An affidavit says the teen had been pulled from Cross’s work crew after she said she wore makeup to “look good for Gary.” The Youth Authority began its investigation when Cross’s wife told one of her husband’s co-workers he was having an affair with a teen.
The Youth Authority paroled the girl last August to a Corvallis halfway house. Authorities say she ran away and was later spotted with Cross outside a Pendleton hotel.
