Editor’s note: This article includes some details of sexual assault allegations that may be triggering.

In interviews with a child advocate, Prairie Park Elementary students had used “uncomfortable,” “strange,” “weird” and “suspicious” to describe what they said they’d experienced by a former speech pathologist now charged with sex crimes.

Mark Gridley, who had been a speech pathologist at Prairie Park since 2021, was arrested in February. The school district immediately relieved him of his duties, and the school board officially terminated him on Feb. 24. He’s currently charged with seven counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and seven counts of kidnapping. 

Gridley’s arrest was based on one count of each of those charges. Detective Meghan Bardwell, of the Lawrence Police Department, testified Thursday that the initial charges related to one 10-year-old who told her parents what happened to her on Feb. 7. Over the next few days, however, more potential victims were identified.

In July, the Douglas County district attorney’s office added six more counts of both charges.

All seven alleged victims were girls in second through fifth grades at Prairie Park. Their ages ranged from 5 to 10.

Preliminary hearings are set to continue at 9 a.m. Friday and Monday, Oct. 3 and 6. Afterward, Douglas County District Judge Amy Hanley will determine whether there is enough evidence that Gridley should face a jury trial, and for which charges.

Upon receiving the initial report, LPD contacted the Children’s Advocacy Center. Shelby Deist, child protection specialist, said she interviewed 20 kids but that not all made disclosures.

A police affidavit alleged that Gridley used the guise of a test to abuse students in his office during school hours.

Video and audio recordings of Deist’s interviews with four of the seven alleged victims were played in court Thursday, and all four of those children gave similar statements — that Gridley pulled them from class into his office and said he was going to do a “tongue strength test.” And then he covered their eyes with either large bandaids or tape or both, bound their hands, and put unidentified objects in their mouths, they said. Most said he told them to kneel down in a corner and that he stood or crouched in front of them during the “test.”

They all said this incident happened to them once. They said they didn’t understand and felt uncomfortable. One child, a then-7-year-old, said Gridley did not explain to her what he was doing or why.

“He didn’t say what anything was for,” she said in the recorded interview. “It was strange.”

Physical evidence

Bardwell testified on Thursday that this alleged abuse of several students occurred across Thursday and Friday, Feb. 6 and 7.

Detectives used the school’s video surveillance to track Gridley’s movement as well as students who entered and exited his office over those two days. The alleged victims were inside his office from a range of seven to 20 minutes.

Bardwell also testified that there was white paper covering the majority of Gridley’s window facing the hallway. The surveillance video shows what looks like an arm on the inside of his office putting another white paper up to cover the remaining visible top part of the window on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 6.

She and Detective Amy Price conducted a search at Prairie Park on Saturday, Feb. 8. They took photographs of Gridley’s office and items found inside, including the type of green and blue duct tape, the bandaids and other items the children discussed.

The children whose interviews were shown Thursday said they believed they were being recorded because they saw a camera when they entered his office. One child described the camera as being a silver Samsung with tape on it and said she heard camera sounds later on.

They also said Gridley gave them plushies or stickers when the alleged abuse was over. Bardwell testified she learned Gridley usually recorded sessions and frequently offered stickers at the end of his sessions.

Police collected trash in the school’s main dumpster and located a condom box and a receipt showing Gridley purchased them from Walgreens. The bandaids and bandaid wrappers some of the kids said they saw Gridley throw in his office trash can, the main white sheet that covered the majority of his window, and other items tied to him were also found.

No seminal fluid or condom lubricant was found on items tested by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, according to Bardwell. District Attorney Dakota Loomis said the lubricant could go undetected after a period of time.

Bardwell testified that KBI test results showed DNA consistent with Gridley’s was found on tape police recovered. Additionally, his fingerprint was found on bandaids and his palm print was identified on bandaid wrappers. DNA samples from four of the alleged victims matched DNA on the recovered bandaids.

Students on the playground during school were apparently discussing the situation and also texting in group messages about it outside of school, which defense attorney Vanessa Riebli suggested could taint their stories. Bardwell said when she asked students about texts, they said they didn’t have them, and she accepted that.

Riebli questioned Bardwell’s decision not to recover any potential deleted messages, saying detectives know the best course of action is to review anything that might be evidentiary. Bardwell agreed.

Police conducted a search at Gridley’s house Saturday, Feb. 8 and collected his electronics, including the Samsung camera described. They took him into custody at the Douglas County jail that day.

Bardwell said there was no documented child sex abuse materials found on Gridley’s devices, but there is “undocumented” evidence that she believes is on a laptop that’s currently undergoing forensic examination. He has no prior criminal record.

Seats on the right side of the courtroom behind Loomis were almost full with people. No children appeared to be present.

Throughout the day, discomfort was evident in the courtroom. Many in attendance quietly shook their heads in disapproval during testimony.

Gridley is no longer in custody as he was released Aug. 14 after making bail. 

Defendants in criminal cases should be presumed not guilty unless they are convicted. Read more background on the case in the articles linked below.

Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.

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