Bullard man placed on leave at construction company after accusations of child grooming, other crimes

Published 4:30 pm Thursday, August 29, 2024

BULLARD — A Bullard man accused of enticing a child, grooming and other crimes has been placed on leave from a local construction company that has ties to East Texas school districts.

Randy Smith, 47, is charged with enticing a child, harboring a runaway, two counts of child grooming, witness tampering and six counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor. He was arrested Wednesday after an investigation led to evidence of the crimes.

Since March 2023, Smith has been employed as a superintendent at Berry & Clay, a construction company based in Rusk that has collaborated with various school districts across East Texas, including Bullard ISD.

“We are completely shocked by these events and allegations,” Stephen Berry, Vice President of BCI, said in a statement to the Tyler Morning Telegraph. “We had no indication from this employee of any actions of this nature. The employee passed all state-mandated background checks as part of our hiring process. We always prioritize student safety, and he has been placed on administrative leave until further notice.”

According to his public LinkedIn profile, since March 2021 Smith has also been working as superintendent at WRL General Contractors, another construction company involved in projects with Bullard ISD and other local entities. WRL declined to comment Thursday afternoon.

“We are aware of the arrest of an individual by Bullard PD,” Bullard ISD said in a statement to the Tyler Morning Telegraph. “This individual is not an employee of Bullard ISD; however, he did work as a site superintendent for the construction company managing our bond construction projects.”

As a company, Berry & Clay Commercial Construction has worked on several local projects in the education, sports, religious, financial, hospitality, detention, parks, government as well as private and industrial sectors. Recently, they completed work on the Bullard ISD Sports Complex and are currently working on building the new Bullard Middle School. Berry and Clay has also done work for Alto, Rusk, Lindale, Henderson, Hawkins, Jacksonville, Union Grove and Tyler ISDs, along with All Saints Episcopal School, Trinity Valley Community College and several other local educational institutions.

WRL General Contractors has completed numerous notable local projects including Bullard Primary School, the Bullard Panther Gymnasium, Gilmer’s Buckeye Stadium, Grace Community Church, Christus Health South Tyler hospital, Tyler Legacy High School and Tyler High School as well as each school’s athletic complexes, Tyler ISD Career & Technology Center, Tyler ISD’s Moore Middle School, the W.T. Brookshire Conference Center in Tyler and more.

Smith’s August arrest comes after an investigation that began in July. Bullard police arrested Smith on Wednesday afternoon and he was booked into the Smith County Jail on bonds totaling $1.475 million.

Bullard Police Chief Jeff Bragg said his officers responded on July 25 to a home in Bullard to help the Smith County Sheriff’s Office locate a juvenile who had been reported as a runaway. When officers and deputies got there, multiple juveniles who did not live there were found, including the reported runaway. Officers contacted parents and later released the children from the scene to their parents.

Further investigation revealed evidence that led officers to believe crimes had been committed.

Arrest warrant affidavits state Smith allegedly purchased a vibrator for one of the children in his home. Another one of the children said Smith allegedly touched them inappropriately. The affidavit states the victims told police Smith purchased beer and liquor for them, along with vapes.

Smith also allegedly told the children to not tell police about the purchases he’d made for them, noting they should have his back because he “spent a fortune” for them “to have fun,” the document states.

Detectives were able to get enough information to complete affidavits and warrants for Smith, reviewed by Judge Austin Reeve Jackson of the 114th District Court, which led to Smith’s arrest.

Smith remains jailed as of Thursday afternoon.