A high school teacher was in court Tuesday after she was charged with convincing runaway students to work as prostitutes.
via: People
Kedria M. Grigsby, 42, was arrested on Monday on three counts of trafficking a child and three counts of compelling prostitution of juveniles, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a statement.
“It appears Grigsby recruited troubled juveniles from local high schools by offering them a place to stay, which would be a hotel,” Gonzalez said in the statement. All the three victims are females.
Separate charging documents reviewed by PEOPLE allege Grigsby “styled” a juvenile identified only as A.A. and a 18-year-old victim, identified only as E.D., in November 2022 and went on to unlawfully “transport, entice, recruit, harbor, provide and obtain” them, eventually forcing them into prostitution. E.D. was 17 at the time of the incident.
Details about Grigsby’s alleged crime against a third victim, 16-year-old K.L., was not available in online court records on Friday.
Today, the @HCSOTexas Criminal Investigations & Security Division corroborated with @kleinisdpd in arresting Klein ISD teacher, Kedria M. Grigsby (01-31-82) for allegedly trafficking of a child (3 counts) and compelling prostitution of juveniles (3 counts). The
1/4 pic.twitter.com/AkcMHCDvSm— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) April 9, 2024
Police allege Grigsby worked with her son Roger Magee, 21, who had been arrested in November 2022 on one charge of Trafficking of Children. Since then, Magee has been charged with additional offenses of child trafficking and Compelling Prostitution charges, online court records show. He is currently in jail.
Authorities allege Grigsby and Magee “participated in managing, directing, and taking profits” from three juveniles in a “prostitution enterprise,” according to a probable cause document reviewed by PEOPLE.
The duo allegedly took the girls to a “motel room used for prostitution” and managed the finances related to the transactions, such as paying for the room and controlling a Zelle account where the victims would have to transfer the money they earned through prostitution, per the probable cause document.
Police said in the document that Grigsby is a cosmetology teacher at Klein Cain High School, but it wasn’t immediately clear if her victims are from the same school.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Klein Independent School District said they are “disgusted” about the allegations and condemned Grigsby’s “reprehensible behavior.” They said they will “fully cooperate” with the investigation.
The district also refuted claims that they were aware of Grigsby’s alleged criminal activities.
It isn’t clear why Grigsby was arrested this week in connection with the alleged crimes from more than a year ago. Neither HCSO nor Klein police immediately responded to PEOPLE’s request for comments.
The Klein ISD statement, which was also signed off by Klein police, said as of February 2023, HCSO had said Grigsby was not a suspect. The district did not learn about her alleged involvement until her April 8 arrest.
Plea information for Grigsby was not immediately available. PEOPLE has reached out to her attorney for further comments.
Magee has entered pleas of not guilty for all his charges, his lawyer Thomas Martin tells PEOPLE.
Anyone who may have more information is urged to contact Harris County Sheriff’s Office at 346-286-2646.
