photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Mark Gridley appears at his competency hearing Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Douglas County District Court.

A speech pathologist accused of molesting multiple students at Prairie Park Elementary School has bonded out of jail after his bond amount was reduced Monday from $1.5 million to $750,000.

Mark Gridley, 61, posted the reduced bond and was released from the Douglas County Jail Thursday, with strict monitoring conditions. He is required to have GPS monitoring and had to surrender his passport. He is also prohibited from entering any school grounds in Douglas County, among other conditions.

It was not immediately clear where Gridley would be living, but his attorney, Vanessa Riebli, had offered a handful of suggestions to the court, including that his family would purchase a home for him to stay in. She argued that Gridley, who is to be presumed innocent, should not be subjected to living restrictions more stringent than those of convicted sex offenders.

Gridley, who had been in jail for the past six months, since his arrest on Feb. 8, is accused of sexually abusing seven children under the guise of providing speech and language therapy. He faces seven counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and seven counts of kidnapping.

The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office had objected to the bond being lowered, citing the nature and number of the criminal charges and the potential for Gridley to unintentionally encounter alleged victims or their relatives in the community, but Judge Amy Hanley concluded that $750,000 — $650,000 more than the $100,000 Gridley had requested — was an appropriate amount given the crimes he is charged with and his lack of a criminal record. Setting a bond is required by law, and bonds exceeding $1 million are generally reserved for homicide cases, Hanley noted at the bond modification hearing Monday.

“I believe this level meets the balance needed for a case of this nature,” Hanley said.

In the first week of October, Gridley will have a preliminary hearing, at which Hanley will decide if there is sufficient evidence — probable cause — to order him to stand trial.