RAY TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A pilot instructor who had sexual relations with a teenage girl in the middle of a flight has entered a plea related to sex acts with that same girl at a Macomb County airport.
Rex Dale Phelps, 72, of Ray Township, is accused of having what police describe as “inappropriate contact” with a 15-year-old girl over the course of several weeks. He was teaching the girl about airplanes, officials said.
Phelps is currently serving a federal sentence for having sexual relations with the girl on an airplane while it was in the air.
On Monday, June 10, 2024, Phelps pleaded no contest to accosting a minor -- a four-year felony -- and two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct -- a two-year high-court misdemeanor.
The charges stem from the accusation that Phelps had inappropriate contact with the girl while at the Ray Community Airport. In a 2023 court filing, officials said those relations happened in the hangar.
“A 15-year-old girl is legally incapable of giving consent to a sexual relationship with an adult,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said. “This is a violation of her rights and a serious breach of trust.”
Phelps faces sentencing at 8:30 a.m. July 24, 2024, at Macomb County Circuit Court.
WARNING: Some of the details described below are disturbing.
Police learn about relationship
Michigan State Police received a call on March 1, 2023, about the contact between Phelps and the teenager. Phelps was the president of a flight club in Ray Township and is a retired teacher from Dakota High School in Macomb Township.
Investigators reviewed a text conversation between Phelps and the girl, during which he sent a picture of a man and a woman lying on a bed kissing. He told her, “Shortly after the shower ... without that top. Maybe more,” according to a criminal complaint.
The girl said that on Jan. 14, 2023, while Phelps was flying her to Frankenmuth, he kissed her for the first time. Later that month, she said, he exposed and grabbed her inappropriately while in the Ray Township airplane hangar.
The girl said Phelps would often question her about her sexual activities, the criminal complaint says.
He also told her to delete her text messages so that nobody else could read them, police said.
“(The girl) stated that Phelps would repeatedly tell her, ‘I hope I’m not grooming you,’” court records say.
Phelps is accused of kissing the girl multiple times while they were in the air on Jan. 16, 2023, causing the airplane to turn off course. The girl said that could be seen on the flight path.
During multiple flights between Jan. 16 and Feb. 8 of last year, Phelps touched the girl’s leg inappropriately, and he “moved it higher each time they flew together,” the criminal complaint reads.
“A review of (her) phone showed deleted texted messages exchanged between Phelps and (the girl),” the criminal complaint says. “Phelps and (her) discuss being in love, and Phelps told (her) to ‘stick to the story.’”
Phelps reveals future plans with teen
Search warrants were executed at Phelps’ home and the Ray Community Airport in early March 2023.
When Michigan State Police interviewed Phelps, he admitted to touching the girl’s leg, but did not admit to any other inappropriate touching.
Phelps told authorities that he planned to have sex with the girl when she turned 16 years old. He said he had planned to invite her over to his house in May 2023 while his wife was out of town.
He was charged March 6, 2023, with accosting a minor and two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.
In an indictment unsealed in late March 2023, Phelps was charged by a Grand Jury with abusive sexual contact of a child, which is a felony.
“During flights that originated and landed in the Eastern District of Michigan, defendant Rex Dale Phelps knowingly engaged in and caused sexual contact ... with minor victim 1, a person who had attained the age of 12 years but had not attained the age of 16 years,” the indictment reads.
Court records specify that crimes were committed between Jan. 16, 2023, and Feb. 8, 2023.
