photo by: Screenshot taken with permission of the Douglas County Court

Mark Gridley appears via video conference from the Douglas County Jail during a hearing on Feb. 19, 2025, in Douglas County District Court.

A Lawrence speech pathologist accused of child sex crimes at an elementary school is competent to stand trial, a judge ruled Thursday in Douglas County District Court.

The defendant, Mark Elliott Gridley, 61, is currently 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.

Lawrence police, however, 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.

The competency evaluation — to determine whether Gridley is 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.

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.

This is a developing story and will be updated.