Mira Costa Instructional Assistant arrested on counts of sexual misconduct

By Danny Kelleher
Executive News Editor

Mira Costa instructional assistant Christopher Wayne Gray pleaded not guilty on Oct. 7 to nine counts of sexual misconduct allegedly with a Mira Costa minor after being arrested at Costa by the Manhattan Beach Police Department on Oct. 5.

Gray, 27, has been a district employee since November 2010 and, according to an Oct. 6 MBPD press release, was arrested on counts of unlawful intercourse and lewd and lascivious acts with a minor, among other acts that were allegedly committed “on or around” June 20, 2011.

“This is something that never should happen,” Mira Costa Principal Ben Dale said. “When something like this does happen, it’s just a tragedy.”

According to MBPD Public Information Officer Stephanie Martin, the victim’s parents visited the MBPD station on Oct. 4. Detectives immediately opened an investigation, and Gray was arrested the next day at Costa.

“We are here to both educate and be educated,” Dale said. “You start to think that you’re more than a teacher, that you’re a friend, that you’re a confidante, that you’re something more than a teacher. At the end of the day, we’re teachers. We have to maintain that distance.”

The alleged victim was confirmed to be a Mira Costa minor in an Oct. 6 email from Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews to the district community, and the MBPD press release stated that it is unknown at this time if there are any other victims.

“I ask that you join me in doing everything possible to respect and protect the privacy of the student and the student’s family,” Matthews said in his email.
No information was mentioned in the community message from Matthews regarding Gray’s history of felony charges.

According to Martin, Gray was arrested earlier this year by the Los Angeles Police Department on counts of spousal battery on May 10 and spousal battery, assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment on June 8.

“We get near immediate notification when an employee is charged with a crime,” Matthews said. “If the crime for which an employee is arrested does not have a direct connection to his or her employment, our ability to act upon that may be limited until there is an actual conviction.”

Teachers were expected to attend one of two morning meetings that Dale held on Oct.6 in order to be made aware of the situation and be prepared to answer potential questions from students. According to numerous students, there were multiple teachers who perpetuated information involving the history of the crimes that has not been publicly confirmed. Dale, however, maintains that none of the unsubstantiated claims that have spread were provided under his supervision.

“I said that he [Gray] was hired last November and worked at the middle school, and that he came here this year with a student with whom he was an aid from the middle school,” Dale said. “They [the teachers who told their students unverified information] may have drawn a conclusion from that.”

Gray’s Oct. 7 hearing was held at the Torrance Courthouse. As of the end of the hearing, Gray’s bail is set at $900,000. He remains in custody at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department correctional facility.

If Gray does not post bail, his second hearing will held on Oct. 24 at the Torrance Courthouse. Throughout the course of the investigation, he will be on administrative leave. According to his email, Matthews plans on strictly following the law for the district’s course of action upon the investigation’s completion.

It remains to be seen whether changes will be implemented at Mira Costa in the future as a result of this incident.

“I don’t like it that this has to happen for all of us to stand back and go, ‘Oh yeah, we’re teachers and you’re students,’” Dale said. “It’s just a mess.”