photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

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

The Lawrence Police Department is asking a Douglas County district judge to quash a subpoena for its investigative file on a speech pathologist accused of child molestation at a Lawrence elementary school.

LPD says, in a motion filed Wednesday, that releasing its full file on Mark Gridley to parties in a civil lawsuit would potentially interfere with the current criminal prosecution of Gridley by the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office.

“Further, release of the records would potentially reveal the identity of other victims” contrary to state law, LPD’s motion says.

The plaintiff’s subpoena specifically requests all reports, videos, audio files, notes, interviews, transcripts or witness statements that the police have related to Gridley.

Gridley, 61, worked as a speech and language pathologist at Prairie Park Elementary from 2021 until February of this year, when he was arrested on suspicion of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and one count of kidnapping. Both charges involve the same child, identified as having been born in 2014.

Lawrence police have stated that as many as eight children, between the ages of 6 and 11, were victimized at the school by Gridley, who is accused of having abused the students under the guise of a speech therapy “test” while they were blindfolded and their hands were tied, but thus far no charges beyond the initial two have been filed.

Criminal proceedings against Gridley began in February, and a civil lawsuit was filed within weeks against the Lawrence school district on behalf of a 6-year-old girl claiming that the district was vicariously liable for Gridley’s conduct and was negligent in hiring, retaining and supervising him.

The school district has denied liability and has asked the court to dismiss the plaintiff’s petition for damages.

A subpoena was also issued in the civil case for the business records of Seaman Unified School District, where Gridley had previously worked.

Gridley, who is being held on a $1.5 million bond, was recently declared competent to stand trial. His preliminary hearing, at which Judge Amy Hanley will determine whether there’s probable cause to order him to trial, is scheduled for July 29.

The next hearing in the civil case, being heard by Judge Catherine Theisen, is scheduled for Aug. 11.