Bullard man suspended from construction company after being accused of child abuse, other crimes | Crime

BULLARD – A Bullard man accused of seducing a child, sexually assaulting her and other crimes has been placed on leave by a local construction company with ties to East Texas school districts.

Randy Smith, 47, is charged with enticement of a child, harboring a runaway, two counts of sexual battery, witness tampering and six counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor. He was arrested Wednesday after police say several children were found in a location that was not their home.

Since March 2023, Smith has served as superintendent of Berry & Clay, a Rusk-based construction company that works with various school districts in East Texas, including Bullard ISD.

“We are completely shocked by these incidents and allegations,” said Stephen Berry, vice president of BCI, in a statement to the Tyler Morning Telegraph. “We had no indication of any such actions by this employee. The employee passed all state-mandated background checks as part of our hiring process. Student safety is always our top priority and he has been placed on leave until further notice.”

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

“We are aware of the arrest of an individual by the Bullard Police Department,” Bullard ISD said in a statement to the Tyler Morning Telegraph. “This individual is not an employee of Bullard ISD; however, he worked as a construction manager for the construction company that manages our construction projects.”

As a company, Berry & Clay Commercial Construction has worked on several local projects in the education, sports, religious, financial, hospitality, correctional, parks, government, private and industrial sectors. They recently completed work on the Bullard ISD Sports Complex and are currently working on the construction of the new Bullard Middle School. Berry and Clay has also worked for Alto, Rusk, Lindale, Henderson, Hawkins, Jacksonville, Union Grove and Tyler ISDs, as well as 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, Bullard Panther Gymnasium, Gilmer's Buckeye Stadium, Grace Community Church, Christus Health South Tyler Hospital, Tyler Legacy High School and Tyler High School and each school's athletic facilities, Tyler ISD Career & Technology Center, Tyler ISD's Moore Middle School, WT Brookshire Conference Center in Tyler and more.

Smith's arrest in August followed an investigation that began in July. Bullard police arrested Smith Wednesday afternoon and took him to the Smith County Jail, where he posted a total of $1.475 million in bail.

Bullard Police Chief Jeff Bragg said his officers responded to a Bullard home on July 25 to assist the Smith County Sheriff's Office in locating a reported runaway juvenile. When officers and deputies arrived on scene, several juveniles were found who did not live there, including the reported runaway. Officers made contact with the parents and later released the children from the scene to their parents.

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

The arrest warrant affidavits state that Smith allegedly bought a vibrator for one of the children in his home. Another child said Smith touched her inappropriately. The affidavit states that the victims told police that Smith bought beer and alcohol for them, as well as e-cigarettes.

Smith also allegedly told the children not to tell police about the purchases he had made for them and told them to watch out for him because he had “spent a fortune” “making sure they had fun,” the document says.

Investigators managed to gather enough information to complete affidavits and arrest warrants for Smith, which were reviewed by Judge Austin Reeve Jackson of the 114th District Court and led to Smith's arrest.

As of Thursday afternoon, Smith is still in jail.