A man has been charged with 10 counts of indecent liberties with a child, five counts of attempted sexual activity with a student and other charges for offenses he is accused of committing when he was employed as a teacher and coach in the Wilkes County Schools.
David Lee Gregory, 40, turned himself in at the Wilkes County Courthouse on May 31, said Capt. Nancy Graybeal of the Wilkes Sheriff’s Office. He was released from custody under a $150,000 unsecured bond.
Gregory is also charged with three counts of dissemination to minors under 16, which Graybeal said refers to dissemination of obscene photos and/or videos, and with two counts of attempted second-degree exploitation of a minor.
Gregory was a teacher at North Wilkes High School when he resigned from employment with the Wilkes County Schools on May 31, according to a statement from the Wilkes school system that was released Monday afternoon by Morgan Mathis, public information officer for the Wilkes schools.
Graybeal said the investigation of Gregory began “when a past student filed a complaint with the sheriff’s office about inappropriate conversations Mr. Gregory had with her” in 2007. She said this complaint was filed on April 24.
Graybeal said other victims with similar experiences were located during the investigation. She said eight victims have been identified, all females, involving incidents reported to have occurred between 2005 and 2012.
Graybeal declined to say where the offenses occurred. She said the investigation, being conducted by Graybeal and Lt. Robbie Martin of the sheriff’s office, is continuing.
The statement released by Mathis continued, “For him to resign in lieu of a dismissal, the school district required Mr. Gregory to surrender to the State Department of Public Instruction his professional educator’s license. He is no longer eligible to teach in any North Carolina public school district. The same result has been achieved as would be available through a teacher dismissal proceeding.”
According to the statement, Gregory had been employed with the Wilkes County Schools as an exceptional children’s teacher and coach since 2005. “He has been assigned to both North Wilkes Middle School and North Wilkes High School, and has been at North Wilkes High School since 2010. He was suspended from employment on May 1, 2024, pending an investigation by law enforcement,” the statement said.
It concluded, “Wilkes County Schools has worked closely with law enforcement authorities in this matter and will continue to do so.”
Gregory ended a five-year stint as North Wilkes High’s head baseball coach when he stepped down in 2015. Before becoming head baseball coach at the high school, Gregory, coached the North Wilkes Middle School baseball team for four years and served one year as North High’s J.V. coach.
Read More: Ex-teacher faces indecent liberties, other charges | News
2024-06-03 19:45:00