Tennessee residents of the city of Millersville were shocked to find out that their longtime city commissioner was arrested for numerous child sex allegations over four decades.

The Sumner County Sheriff's Office said it took 76-year-old David Winston Gregory into custody on Wednesday at his home.

'These allegations are serious. ... There is no place in our society for actions like what is being alleged.'

The indictment claimed Gregory committed the crimes between 1987 and 2026, which included at least three instances of sexual abuse on a child that included three or more children. It further alleged that three of the instances constituted "the offense of aggravated sexual battery."

He is being held at the Sumner County Jail on a $750,000 bond. Online records list two charges: continuous sexual abuse of a child and aggravated sexual battery.

Other local officials were stunned by the allegations.

"As a government official where the alleged events occurred, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on this case," Millersville Mayor Lincoln Atwood said. "I have full confidence in those investigating these events. I also have full faith in our judicial system. No one is above the law."

"These allegations are serious. My prayers are with all potential victims," Vice Mayor Dustin Darnall said.

"I will remain committed to supporting all victims, especially victims of sexual abuse. There is no place in our society for actions like what is being alleged," he added.

Gregory served as a city commissioner for 14 years. His current term expires in 2026.

Michael Shaw, a resident of the city, said the allegations were "disgusting" in comments to WKRN-TV.

"We can't have that kind of stuff," he said. "We got to have leaders that are actually leaders. We got to have people that don't get like that."

Gregory made headlines when he demanded that the town's assistant police chief, Shawn Taylor, apologize for spreading conspiracy theories alleging that police staged the Covenant School shooting in Nashville.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Home invasion suspect comes face-to-face with gun-toting homeowner — who is more than ready for him

A male who broke into a Memphis home early Tuesday morning came face-to-face with the armed homeowner, who was more than ready for him.

Memphis police told WMC-TV that officers responded just after 1 a.m. to a shots-fired call at a home on Eldridge Avenue in the North Memphis area.

'This is my home. I mean, I should be able to enjoy it without people comin' through the window on me.'

When officers arrived, they learned the homeowner caught an intruder breaking into the residence — and the homeowner was holding the suspect at gunpoint, the station said.

Police added to WMC that the suspect was lying face-down on the bedroom floor. The station's video report below about the incident says the homeowner fired two shots.

Officers commanded the homeowner to put the gun down, the station said, adding that they then checked the suspect — Simeon Pratcher, 33 — and found he was not wounded.

Pratcher told police he came through the window because he thought no one was home, WMC reported, after which he was taken into custody without incident.

Pratcher is facing charges of aggravated burglary and possession of burglary tools, the station said. Jail records indicate he remained behind bars Wednesday morning, and no bond amount is listed. His next hearing is Wednesday morning.

The video report also notes that the homeowner experienced a break-in just days earlier, during which his home was ransacked and items worth thousands of dollars were stolen.

"This is my home," the victim told WMC in the video report. "I mean, I should be able to enjoy it without people comin' through the window on me."

After the previous break-in, two people were arrested, the station said.

"I'm not runnin'," the defiant homeowner told WMC.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

School board member tells HS girl, 'God, you're hot,' appears to touch her during meeting — now he's charged with assault

A member of a Tennessee school board has been charged with assault in connection with an incident during a recent public meeting in which he referred to a female high school student as "hot" and appeared to touch her, WJHL-TV reported.

Keith Ervin of the the Washington County Schools Board of Education was seen on video appearing to touch a student seated next to him while making a sizzling noise before telling her, "God, you're hot, you know that? ... Where do you go to school at?"

'Every board member has been concerned about her and how this has impacted her and will impact her.'

The student replied that she attends David Crockett High School, after which Ervin exclaimed, “All right!" WJHL noted.

The incident occurred during an April 2 school board meeting and can be seen on the school district's YouTube page; the incident occurs just after the 1 hour and 16 minute mark.

WJHL said that following public outcry, the school board on April 8 voted to censure Ervin, and the Washington County Commission issued a vote of no confidence in Ervin on April 27.

Ervin also was censured in 2009 after reportedly making a lewd gesture of a sexual nature in front of a class at David Crockett High School, the station said.

Ervin, however, has insisted the clip recorded during the meeting showing his interaction with the student lacks context, and he has stated he only was complimenting the manner in which she had been asking questions during the meeting, the station said.

A charge of assault was filed Monday against Ervin, with a violation date of April 2, WJHL reported, citing court records.

Washington County Schools Superintendent Jerry Boyd provided the station with a statement from the school board acknowledging that its members are aware a simple assault charge has been filed against Ervin in relation to the incident.

"Board chair Annette Buchanan previously stated that Mr. Ervin's comments and actions were 'shocking' and that he 'objectified and diminished a young woman,'" the statement reads, according to WJHL. "The Board reiterates that Mr. Ervin's actions do not reflect the standards, policies, or values of the school district. The Board remains committed to ensuring a safe, respectful, and appropriate environment for all students and staff."

The station said the school board stated that it will defer to law enforcement and the judicial system regarding the charge against Ervin.

Boyd added to the station that "none of the burden placed on the board members or myself or any district member compares to probably what the individual student feels. So every board member has been concerned about her and how this has impacted her and will impact her. Every board member wishes her the best. And as I said, both her and any student or any staff member that needs some additional supports, we'll be prepared and are prepared to provide whatever we can."

The father of the student at the center of the April 2 incident said on social media that Ervin should not be "anywhere near students" and called the other board members' lack of action amid the incident "equally disturbing," WJHL noted.

The station added that on May 7, the student herself addressed the school board, including Ervin, and called the board members "cowards" and said Ervin's actions were "not only unwelcome, but sexist and derogatory."

Boyd added to WJHL that the board has no authority to take action or discipline an individual board member beyond what already has been done — and that Ervin, an elected official, cannot be dismissed.

Boyd also told the station that "certainly in any situation, you always reflect, you certainly consider what you could have done differently during the moment, but you also focus on what can you do now. And I know every board member has been in the process of reflecting and acting on how they need to improve our board meetings, what their responsibility is, and also what my role will be and how I can support that."

He added to WJHL that as "a father of girls and as a superintendent and a lifelong educator, this is a situation none of us anticipated; the student definitely didn't anticipate that she would be in that kind of situation in a formal board meeting and honestly, nobody else did, either. So we're taking measures to be preventative in the future, including ensuring that our board members always maintain a certain level of professionalism."

The station said it has reached out to Ervin for a response.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Tennessee Republicans dropped the ball on abortion

A viral video from Memphis recently drew national attention for good reason. A woman was filmed at a gender-reveal party murdering her preborn baby with abortion pills.

In the video, she aired grievances about her “baby daddy” and announced that she would not complete the pregnancy. As friends watched, cheered, and even shouted “kill it,” she opened a packet of abortion pills while whooping and singing, “Thank you, Jesus.” Instead of announcing whether the baby was a boy or a girl, she declared the baby was “no gender” and swallowed the pills.

Tennessee Republicans understand perfectly well that Democrats have no real power in the state. They can govern as they please. And they chose not to abolish abortion.

The episode horrified pro-lifers. But much of the reaction missed a harder truth: Tennessee Republicans recently had a chance to stop this kind of killing and chose not to.

In a later interview, the woman said she had consumed alcohol throughout the pregnancy and that she and the father believed the baby would be born “slow.” That, she said, is why they decided on an abortion. She then celebrated the abortion with the interviewer, who joked that she had managed both a gender reveal and a “funeral” on the same day.

The whole episode stands as a brutal commentary on the culture. Some pro-life leaders still describe women as abortion’s “second victims.” But more women now openly and brazenly celebrate the killing of their preborn children. In recent years, a sickening “shout your abortion” culture has taken root among women who do not merely defend abortion, but praise it as liberation.

This case drew intense backlash. Yet the Christians expressing horror may not realize that Tennessee lawmakers had a chance only months ago to stop such violence and refused to act.

Many state and national pro-life groups insist that the abortion issue is basically settled in Tennessee. Americans United for Life says “abortion is illegal in Tennessee, with limited exceptions” and that “chemical abortion pills are tightly regulated.” Tennessee Right to Life claims “abortion is illegal in Tennessee” and that the state is “a national leader” in protecting preborn babies. Students for Life Action has even described Tennessee as “abortion-free.”

The Memphis video exposes those claims as false.

SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

The woman and her friends were able to obtain the supposedly “tightly regulated” abortion pills, use them to kill a baby, record the act, and post it online for the entire country to see. They could do that because Tennessee law grants complete immunity to women who procure abortions. In practice, that means no deterrent exists to stop a woman from willfully murdering her preborn child.

The statute that supposedly makes Tennessee “abortion-free” states plainly that it “does not subject the pregnant woman upon whom an abortion is performed or attempted to criminal conviction or penalty.”

In other words, the woman in the video cannot be held criminally accountable for intentionally killing her baby, no matter how openly murderous her intent was, because Tennessee’s pro-life laws shield her and every other woman from penalty.

Lawmakers had a chance to close that loophole this year through House Bill 570, which would have established equal protection for preborn babies. Instead of banning prenatal homicide only for third-party abortionists, the bill would have applied the same murder laws that protect those already born and criminalized abortion as murder for anyone willfully involved.

But when the bill appeared, pro-life establishment groups immediately pressured lawmakers to avoid supporting it. None of the Republicans on the Tennessee House Population Health Subcommittee even made a motion to grant House Bill 570 a hearing.

That failure matters because Tennessee is not some purple state with divided government. Republicans hold supermajorities in both legislative chambers. They recently pushed through redistricting and punished Democrats who objected. In other words, Tennessee Republicans understand perfectly well that Democrats have no real power in the state. They can govern as they please.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

And they chose not to abolish abortion.

That means any woman in Tennessee, no matter how brazen or malicious, can commit prenatal homicide without fear of legal consequences.

The baby murdered in that video was no outlier. More than 5,000 preborn babies are killed every year in Tennessee through abortion pills obtained through telehealth providers. Thousands more die outside the formal medical system.

If Tennessee lawmakers want to stop this legally tolerated bloodshed, they must establish equal protection for preborn babies and treat them as the image-bearers of God they are. That means abolishing abortion and criminalizing it once and for all.

Republicans claim first redistricting scalp as longtime Tennessee Democrat ends re-election bid

Republicans can claim their first major scalp in the fight to redraw congressional maps now that a longtime Tennessee Democrat has announced he will no longer run for re-election in November.

On Friday, Rep. Steve Cohen declared that he would not run to represent "any of the three gerrymandered congressional districts carved out of the 9th District" of Tennessee, which he has represented since January 2007.

'It has been the honor of my life serving you.'

Republicans state lawmakers in Tennessee immediately responded to the Callais Supreme Court decision, which determined that racially gerrymandered congressional districts are unconstitutional. They reconvened and passed a new map that broke the 9th Congressional District up into three separate districts that will likely turn red after the November midterms.

Tennessee state Democrats did not take the news well, engaging in over-the-top and in some cases potentially dangerous theatrics in the state Capitol, blaring bullhorns and dancing atop their desks in childish protest.

State Rep. Justin Jones. Madison Thorn/Bloomberg/Getty Images

All for naught. Cohen is the only Democrat member of Congress from Tennessee, so unless the courts intervene, Tennessee will likely have an all-Republican congressional delegation come January.

"Last week, Tennessee Republicans silenced the Black vote here in Memphis to make Republican victories likely," he wrote in his statement posted Friday. "We are still fighting, and if we prevail in the courts and the 9th District remains intact, I will remain a candidate."

"If not, it has been the honor of my life serving you," he concluded.

Moreover, Republican Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton notified Democrat House Minority Leader Karen Camper on Tuesday that because of their shameful antics, members of the Democratic Caucus should expect to receive individual letters removing them from all standing committees and subcommittees in the statehouse, "except where membership is required pursuant to Rule 65 of the House Rules."

This is a breaking story.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

WATCH: Democrat does 'Holy Ghost' dance just days after INSANE state trooper meltdown

Democrat state Rep. Justin Pearson is already back in the news after a video of the Tennessee politician calling a state trooper a “stupid motherf**ker” went viral.

But in the latest video, Pearson appears to be a changed man.

In a video from a graduation ceremony, Pearson thrashes around, dancing on stage in front of a cross, leading BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock to comment that it appears Pearson has “caught the Holy Ghost.”

“I’m almost speechless, Jason, and I speak for a living,” Anthony Walker tells Whitlock, calling Pearson’s actions “performative.”

And Walker does not believe Pearson has “caught the Holy Ghost.”

“Evidence of the Holy Spirit truly in your life and transforming you is going to be a transformed life. Your conversation is going to be different. Your conduct is going to be different. Your whereabouts, where you choose to go, is going to be different. Something will be evident that you used to behave in a sinful manner,” he explains.

“So it’s performance, and you know, unfortunately, we live in a performance-rewarding society,” he adds.

Shemeka Michelle is in agreement.

“It is performative. It is an act. And he failed,” she says, noting that the audience is applauding in the video.

“Most of them are probably women who just don’t have the discernment that’s necessary to be able to sniff out a fraud. He’s a fraud. Plain and simple,” she adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Play stupid games: Tennessee GOP makes Democrats pay a heavy price for childish tantrums over redistricting

Tennessee state Republicans passed a new congressional map last week that, applying the logic of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Callais ruling, carves up a Democrat-held district that was the product of a racial gerrymander. They managed to do so despite obstruction and gross incivility from their Democrat colleagues.

Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones, for instance, walked around the chamber blowing a bullhorn in the faces of lawmakers and subjecting them to potential noise-induced hearing loss. Jones — a Democrat who was caught on film throwing a traffic cone at a driver during a 2020 Black Lives Matter blockade — also set fire to a printout of the Confederate flag and repeatedly accused Republicans of racism.

'Maybe next year we’ll explain the basics like "don’t start fires in the Capitol."'

Democrat state Sen. Charlane Oliver — the radical who threatened riots in 2024 over the passage of a bill she didn't like — danced atop her desk in the chamber, yelling and holding up a banner that said, "No Jim Crow 2 Stop the Steal."

Some of the Democrats yelled and chanted while Republicans calmly conducted the work at hand, while another got testy with police, barraging a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper with insults while interfering with an arrest.

Evidently, actions still have consequences in the Volunteer State.

Republican Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton notified Democratic House Minority Leader Karen Camper on Tuesday that members of the Democratic Caucus should expect to receive individual letters removing them from all standing committees and subcommittees in the statehouse, "except where membership is required pursuant to Rule 65 of the House Rules."

Madison Thorn/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Sexton cited as cause Democrats' actions "aimed at disrupting the democratic and legislative processes and creating disorder on the House Floor, including, but not limited to:

Interlocking arms in the well of the House;
Blocking aisles on the House Floor;
Instigating and encouraging disruptions of the legislative process in coordination with paid protestors and attendees in the gallery, including the distribution of earplugs to a member of your caucus;
The use of prohibited props and noisemakers on the House Floor;
Demonstrating a lack of respect toward fellow members seeking recognition to speak on legislation; and
Flagrant disregard for the Permanent Rules of Order of the House."

Rather than reflect on whether they went too far again or shouldn't bemoan the loss of a racial gerrymander, state Democrats condemned the committee-removal consequence, painted themselves as victims, and descended farther into lunacy.

Minority Leader Camper said in a long-winded, reality-averse statement that the passage of the new map "felt like being stabbed in the back, then having the knife pushed in deeper and turned to finish the job."

The minority leader then engaged in several paragraphs of what could only be described as partisan-hack numerology.

Camper, convinced there was a "symbolic scheme behind the handling of debate during this extraordinary session," said:

there were supposed to be 47 minutes of debate on each side, which was somehow "a clear nod to the 47th President";
the duration of the "debate allotments" when it came to the "debate structure surrounding changes to election law," when added up, would have "totaled 54 minutes — a nod to 1954, the year of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Decision"; and
the addition of 47 plus the time allotments also associated with the debate equals 74 — clearly a nod to 1974, the "year Harold Ford Sr. became the first Black member of Congress elected from Tennessee in the modern era."

In conclusion to her embarrassing numbers game, Camper suggested that her protest last week was ultimately aimed at ensuring that these numbers wouldn't add up — that there would instead be only 44 minutes of debate on the redistricting legislation in honor of the 44th president, Barack Obama.

"We are hurt. We are disappointed. But we are not intimidated," wrote Camper. "And no committee assignment will stop us from fighting for democracy, voting rights, constitutional freedoms, and the people of Tennessee."

State Rep. Justin Pearson — the Democrat who interfered with an arrest on Thursday and called a THP trooper "stupid motherf**ker" and "boy" — whined on X, "Speaker of the TN House Cameron Sexton just removed me and every Democrat — and therefore every Black elected official in the state legislature from any committee we served on. This move strips nearly 2 million Tennesseans from [sic] the representation they deserve in TN state leg."

The Tennessee House GOP said of the Democrats' responses, "Of course now they’re playing victim. Maybe next year we’ll explain the basics like 'don’t start fires in the Capitol.'"

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Longtime Tennessee commissioner arrested for shocking sex crimes against children

Home invasion suspect comes face-to-face with gun-toting homeowner — who is more than ready for him

School board member tells HS girl, 'God, you're hot,' appears to touch her during meeting — now he's charged with assault

Tennessee Republicans dropped the ball on abortion

Republicans claim first redistricting scalp as longtime Tennessee Democrat ends re-election bid

Democrats Tell Pollsters They’d Happily Ditch Black Districts To Get More Power

WATCH: Democrat does 'Holy Ghost' dance just days after INSANE state trooper meltdown

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

Play stupid games: Tennessee GOP makes Democrats pay a heavy price for childish tantrums over redistricting

Texas murder suspect's bail reduced from $800,000 to $200; he's released after paying cash. Gov. Abbott is not happy.

Texas Removes 1 Million Ineligible Voters From Rolls, Including Possible Noncitizens

El Salvador's Nayib Bukele lauds America's founding ideals, throws shade at modern America in July 4th message

Google searches for 'move to Canada' spike after US presidential debate

Canada-US land border to remain closed though October 21

Dr. Fauci says keep the Canada-US border closed

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

We’ll keep you informed with top stories for conservatives who want to become informed decision makers.