Decision to reduce bond delayed in child sex abuse case against ex-Prairie Park speech pathologist

A judge seeking additional information delayed her decision on Monday whether to reduce a $1.5 million bond for a man facing more than a dozen charges involving alleged sex crimes against seven students at Prairie Park Elementary School.

Mark E. Gridley, 61, a speech pathologist, had been working at Prairie Park since 2021. According to a police affidavit, Gridley used the guise of a test to abuse students in his office during school hours.

Gridley was arrested and charged in February with one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child younger than 14 and one count of kidnapping. On July 9, the Douglas County district attorney’s office added six more counts of indecent liberties and six more counts of kidnapping based on information gathered from additional Prairie Park students.

Gridley has been in custody at the Douglas County jail since Feb. 8. On Monday, defense attorney Vanessa Riebli told District Judge Amy Hanley that due to his financial circumstances, in this case a $1.5 million bond was the equivalent of no bond. He would likely have to pay a bondsman $150,000 to be released.

She said keeping Gridley in custody made it difficult for her to meet with him to work on his defense, and that his lack of criminal history and connection to the community made him a low flight risk. She also mentioned two civil cases totaling $20 million that have been filed against Gridley in connection with these events.

“He is invested in his defense,” Riebli said.

In support of her request, Riebli cited similar cases in Douglas County where a defendant facing similar charges was held on $250,000 bond, meaning the defendant would likely have to pay a bondsman $25,000. Bonds higher than that are usually reserved for cases involving homicide, she said.

“Consistency in these cases in important, and $1.5 million is inconsistent,” she said.

Riebli also said that evidence associated with the case shows no physical evidence of DNA from Gridley has been produced through the investigation, and confiscated digital devices contained no history of material associated with child sex abuse.

Douglas County District Attorney Dakota Loomis countered that forensic evidence including band-aids and tape collected from trash receptacles at Prairie Park contained DNA from the alleged victims, and video footage showed students entering Gridley’s office and recorded the duration of those visits.

The lack of digital evidence on Gridley’s confiscated phones and computers was more revealing than exculpatory, Loomis said.

“Almost all of those devices were found to have nothing on them,” he said. “Not just nothing of evidentiary value, but nothing period.”

Concerning bond reduction, Loomis said it was difficult to find Douglas County cases to compare this one to because there have been none with similar situations or the large number of victims.

“This is a very unique circumstance,” he said. “Here we have someone who was in a position of authority.”

Loomis mentioned that if Gridley were released and allowed to go home, he would be returning to a house where his own 12- and 15-year-old children live. Family members in the courtroom on Monday included Gridley’s brother and mother, and his wife, who filed for divorce on April 15.

Riebli said Gridley’s wife has communicated that she wants him to be released on bond and she has no concerns about her husband being around his own children. She confirmed that Gridley’s wife had filed for divorce but said it has not been granted.

“The press has made a big deal about the fact that she filed for divorce, but the first reaction is not always the last reaction, judge,” Riebli said.

Both the defense and prosecutors offered cases for Hanley to review as she considers reducing bond. Hanley said she needed additional time to have Gridley screened again and to investigate monitoring options.

“Where I’m headed in this is to make it consistent with other cases in Douglas County,” she said. “But all cases are different.”

Hanley plans to announce her decision on Monday, Aug. 4. A preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin on Oct. 2.

Defendants in criminal cases should be presumed not guilty unless they are convicted.

Update, 8:10 p.m. Thursday, July 31:

Gridley’s next hearing, at which the judge will announce her decision on the bond modification motion, has been postponed to Monday, Aug. 11.

Andrea Albright (she/her), reporter, can be reached at aalbright (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.

• Twitter
• Instagram

More coverage:

MORE …

Latest Lawrence news:

MORE …