Apr 25, 2007 - David Grey, 70, will stand trial for molesting one of his third-grade students. A judge found sufficient evidence to try him. Grey was arrested June 2006 and arraigned at that time.
According to court records, Grey attempted to French kiss one of his female students June 1 after school in his locked classroom. The 10-year-old student allegedly told her mother about the incident during her nightly prayers, and her mother filed a report with the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department.
PREVIOUS HISTORY In 1990, the Sheriff’s Department received a similar complaint about Grey and investigated the incident, which ended with the agency forwarding the case to the District Attorney’s Office and recommending charges be filed.
For unknown reasons, charges were never filed, and school district officials claim they were never notified of the investigation. Sheriff Department officials say the district was notified.
The alleged student molestation is the third such incident to occur within the school district in the past several years.
Grey will return to court May 15 to be formally arraigned.
Full Name: David Eugene Grey
TT - no reason given for the extraordinary delay. Just now showing up in search engines.
TRIAL: July 13, 2007 - On the second day of trial, jurors watched a 30-minute videotaped interview of the girl by a child psychologist, in which the girl said her teacher had kissed her on the mouth numerous times. The child thought he was a sicko. Grey resigned June 7.
TRIAL: July 12 (story date)- KSBY: According to investigators, Grey has two prior misconduct claims against him.
The victim's 10-year-old friend also spoke with the defense attorney's investigator telling him what she remembered.TRIAL 4th DAY: July 18 - The defendant took the stand in his own defense on Tuesday. Closing arguments today.
"She went out and the door closed behind her. She tried to open the door but it was locked. She knocked on the door then looked through the window. Grey was walking toward the door with the student hanging from his neck," said Grey's attorney, David Hurst.
Other witnesses included a sheriff's detective who played a recorded interview between the victim where she told him her, "teacher did a something very bad."
VERDICT: July 19 - The jury acquitted Grey of the felony charge of lewd or lascivious act with a child younger than 14 but found him guilty of annoying or molesting a child. The latter is a misdemeanor. Jury instructions from the judge said they had to choose between one or the other charges. Sentencing is scheduled for August 20.
LAWSUIT: August 12 - The family of the girl has sued both Grey and the school district, claiming officials failed to protect students and allowed the teacher to act inappropriately.
The district trained all employees over the past two years on appropriate teacher-student behavior.The Tribune provides a link to a copy of the lawsuit. PDF
The paper provides a link to a PowerPoint presentation given to teachers. LINK
TT - If you do nothing else, look at the PowerPoint presentation, the misspellings, the bad grammar, the inappropriate illustrations and the general lack focus on the seriousness of the issue. At no time do they remind teachers that they are mandatory reporters who are obligated to report abuse, or suspected abuse, even if it is a fellow teacher, perhaps especially if it is a teacher. The test at the end of the presentation is unworthy of people who call themselves "educators."
SENTENCED: August 29 - Grey was sentenced to 180 days in San Luis Obispo County Jail.
The County Probation Department recommended David Eugene Grey, 70, spend 270 days in jail for the conviction, but Judge Michael Duffy felt the recommendation was too harsh.Nevertheless, the judge also ordered Grey not to have any communication or contact with girls under 18 and to stay 2,000 feet away from schools, parks and daycare facilities.
The maximum sentence was one year in County Jail.“Two hundred seventy days was a bit much,” Duffy said during this morning’s sentencing hearing, where Grey remained silent during the proceedings.
