Gray pleads guilty, receives three-year prison sentence

By Danny Kelleher
Executive News Editor

Former Mira Costa instructional assistant Chris Gray plead guilty to one count of sexual misconduct under California Penal Code 288 (a) on Jan. 5 at the Airport Courthouse in Los Angeles and was subsequently sentenced to three years in California state prison.

The Manhattan Beach Police Department originally arrested Gray on Oct. 5, and charged him with nine counts of sexual misconduct, but after a negotiated settlement, the charges were reduced to only one count. Penal Code 288 (a) states that “any person who willfully and lewdly commits any lewd or lascivious act” with a child under the age of 14 is guilty of a felony.

Gray received the minimum sentence for the offense under the penal code.

“In sentencing a first-time offender, there are a lot of things to consider,” Mira Costa Security Resource Officer John Loy said. “It depends on prior convictions, the person’s record, circumstances of the crime and standards the judge has to follow.”

Loy acted as lead investigator on the case. According to Loy, the victim’s parents originally approached the police because they could not find their daughter and wanted to report her as missing.

Loy said corroborating statements from Gray and the victim, along with other evidence, led to the arrest. Gray did not resist when he was summoned into Loy’s office midway through the school day on Oct. 5.

“He was brought in here without attention being drawn to the situation,” Loy said. “It was as low-key as possible.”

Gray, 27, who is married with a two year-old son, allegedly maintained the affair with the Mira Costa minor from June 14, 2011 to Oct. 5, the day of his arrest.

“It’s been nearly four months since it happened, and I have put it behind me,” Gray’s wife said. “What happened has happened, [and] I believe everything that he has been accused of did happen.”

When Gray was arrested on Oct. 5, the district immediately put him on administrative leave. He was also arrested twice in the months prior to June 14, 2011 on counts of spousal battery, assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment, but no action was taken to temporarily remove Gray from the school environment at the time.

“This is a personnel issue, and there are rights of privacy attached to personnel issues,” Manhattan Beach Unified School District Director of Human Resources Kathryn Hall said. “As a result, I cannot comment any further.”