photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

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

Updated at 3 p.m. Friday, May 9

A speech pathologist accused of child sex crimes at a Lawrence elementary school is competent to stand trial, a judge ruled Thursday in Douglas County District Court, and a prosecutor indicated that additional charges would be forthcoming.

The defendant, Mark Elliott Gridley, 61, is facing one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and one count of kidnapping — both counts involving a child who is listed on the charging document as having been born in 2014.

Thursday was the first time since his arrest last winter that Gridley has come face to face in a courtroom with Judge Amy Hanley, who declared him competent after reviewing a professional evaluation that deemed him so. Previous court appearances have been by video from the county jail.

The competency evaluation — to determine whether Gridley was able to understand the proceedings against him and to participate in his own defense — was requested by Gridley’s attorney, Vanessa Riebli, and the state did not object. Both parties accepted the findings in the evaluation, whose contents, while not publicly available, did not indicate any psychological impairment that would render Gridley incompetent.

Though he is currently charged with the two felonies, more charges appear likely.

Lawrence police have stated that as many as eight children, between the ages of 6 and 11, were victimized at Prairie Park Elementary 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, as the Journal-World has reported.

Deputy District Attorney David Greenwald said Thursday that the state — ahead of a July 29 preliminary hearing — plans to amend the charges against Gridley after reviewing 5,000 pages of evidence in the case.

Gridley, who had worked at Prairie Park since August 2021, was arrested on Feb. 8 and was subsequently fired by the Lawrence school district. He is being held in the Douglas County Jail on a $1.5 million bond.

Since his arrest, his spouse has filed for divorce and a civil suit has been filed against the Lawrence school district on behalf of a 6-year-old girl claiming that the district is vicariously liable for Gridley’s conduct and was negligent in hiring, retaining and supervising him.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the July 29 date for the preliminary hearing, which had originally been set for July 31 but was changed by the judge.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

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

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

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