photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Mark Gridley appears Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Douglas County District Court.

A speech pathologist who was scheduled to stand trial on multiple counts of sexually abusing children at Prairie Park Elementary School was found dead at his Lawrence home Thursday morning.

The Lawrence Police Department said it responded to the home of accused sex offender Mark Gridley on Greever Terrace just before 7:30 a.m. and found him dead.

“Gridley was found beyond life-saving measures in the home’s garage,” Lawrence Police spokeswoman Laura McCabe said in a news release. “The investigation is ongoing, but there does not appear to be signs of foul play. An official cause of death will be determined by the coroner.”

Gridley was ordered last October to stand trial on seven counts of kidnapping and seven counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

Gridley had worked at Prairie Park Elementary as a speech and language pathologist since August of 2021 until his arrest in February 2025. He is alleged to have bound and blindfolded more than half a dozen young girls under the guise of giving them a speech therapy “test,” which the state has characterized as a series of oral sex crimes.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

The home at 610 Greever Terrace is pictured on Sept. 24, 2026.