Speech Pathologist Charged with Assaulting Students

0:00It's April 21st. This is Kansas News Today, AI-powered stories from your city. Former Prairie Park Elementary speech pathologist, Mark Gridley, faces serious charges for allegedly sexually assaulting at least seven young students back in February 2025. The kids were between 6 and 11 years old and he's hit with seven counts each of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, battery, and kidnapping according to the latest core filing. It all started when one student told a guardian about incidents during the school day on February 7th, leading to Gridley's arrest the next day. He was first charged with just one count, but prosecutors ramped it up big time with that amended complaint on November 17th 20th. 25. The school district moved fast in terms of superintendent Janice Swift and now says firing on February 10th, and the board made it official two weeks later. Gridley had worked as a speech pathologist there and previously at two Topeka Elementary schools. A judge just set his trial

1:01for January 4th, 2027 and it'll run three weeks. He posted $750,000 bond back in August and has a motion hearing coming up on November 19th, 2026. This case keeps unfolding in Douglas County court, shining a harsh light on school safety and holding everyone accountable as the justice system. Grind's forward.