FISHERS, Ind. — A former math teacher at Hamilton Southeastern junior high school was found guilty of child molesting.
Ian Gray, who was previously listed as a mathematics teacher at Riverside Junior High, turned himself in to police in July 2021. The arrest came after a clinical psychologist filed a report with the Department of Child Services in May 2021. The district removed him from the classroom as soon as they were notified.
Gray will be sentenced Friday, Feb. 17 at 1:30 p.m.
The psychologist said during a counseling session, a sixth grade female student from Fall Creek Intermediate School said Gray had sexually assaulted her approximately 10 times during the 2017-2018 school year.
The student said the first time Gray inappropriately touched her, it was in a small group room where the teacher made her go for using her phone during school hours. She said the blinds were closed and paper covered the small window. According to the student, Gray allegedly touched her bare thigh through her ripped jeans and then touched her under her shirt. The student said the misconduct continued once a week and escalated to Gray touching her private areas under her clothes.
The victim's parents noticed behavior changes in their daughter during the school year, including skipping class and avoiding Gray at a track meet, where Gray was a coach. Her grades also began to drop at Fall Creek Intermediate.
Another parent told the victim's mom that Gray had been disciplining the girl alone in a small group room. When the victim's mom talked to the school's principal, the principal told her Gray would no longer be allowed to speak to the child privately. The principal later told police he did not suspect abuse was happening.
The victim's parents began taking her to a therapist after sixth grade because "the shift was drastic" with her behavior, and they felt something had happened to her but had not been aware of the allegations against Gray until the therapy sessions. Fall Creek Intermediate's school counselor at the time recalled the victim having complaints of Gray being too hard on her in class at the time but did not have any other notes from that school year.