HOUSTON – A whistleblower who says they helped expose a Klein ISD cosmetology teacher facing several felony charges, including sex trafficking and compelling prostitution, has hired a civil rights attorney.
Civil rights attorney Harry Daniels released a statement, stating that the whistleblower says school administrators retaliated against her for speaking out.
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On April 8, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced the teacher’s arrest, saying Kedria Grigsby, 42, and her son, Roger Magee, 21, were involved in a sex trafficking ring that included at least three teen girls.
Two days after Grigsby’s arrest, community activists challenged Klein Independent School District officials, accusing the district of withholding troubling information about Grisby for more than a year.
A school district spokesperson vehemently denied those claims.
The whistleblower, a fellow teacher at Klein Cain High School, says her family member, the 18-year-old arrested with Magee and released, met Grigsby’s son on Instagram, and eventually moved into Grigsby’s home.
The school employee said she believed her family member was held at Grigsby’s home against her will and forced to prostitute between May and November of 2022.
She told the investigator that the family member said eight girls were working for Magee and Grigsby; however, the school employee did not know the teen’s names.
Four days later, on February 21, 2023, the same school employee writes a sworn Witness Statement and tells multiple senior-level Klein Independent School District officials that Grigsby was involved in sex trafficking the employee’s family member as well as other students.
KPRC 2 obtained a copy of the sworn statement, which says in part, “Kedria Grigsby aided in the sale, distribution of underage minor females (minimum of 8 girls; it could be more to come forward), one female being [a family member].”
The Klein High School employee notes in their February 2023 sworn statement to the school district that they do not know Grigsby personally and haven’t met her at the school.
Allegations against district and HCSO
The new allegations from the law firm address concerns over why the Klein Independent School District and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office waited over a year to take action against Grisby -- despite reports that she was involved in prostituting teenage students.
The employee said her warnings were ignored and Grisby not only wasn’t arrested, but was also allowed to keep teaching where she had access to countless potential victims, according to the law firm.
The law firm also claims that it was the whistleblower who instead faced retaliation from the school’s administration and was forced to resign shortly after reporting her concerns.
Investigators with the HCSO are accused of sitting on a forensic report of Magee’s phone that contained text messages about the sex trafficking and prostitution ring between Magee and Grisby for nearly a full year before finally arresting Grisby on April 8.
“It takes real courage for a whistleblower to come forward in a case like this. But instead of being taken seriously, she was ignored, ridiculed and forced to resign,” Daniels said. “That kind of failure is nothing less than dereliction of duty from both the Klein Independent School District and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Their actions put students at risk and they deserve to be held accountable.”
When KPRC 2 reached out to the school district last week, Klein Independent School District issued a statement that says in part:
- In February 2023, an individual notified human resources that they had a report in Harris County related to Kedria Grigsby.
- Upon receiving this information, and as part of our immediate investigation into the allegation, our Klein ISD Police Department contacted the Harris County Sheriff’s Office with the case number provided to us by the individual. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office reported back to us that Kedria Grigsby was not a suspect.
Jason Spencer, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez’s Chief of Staff said HCSO has no record of anyone telling Klein ISD that Grigsby was not a suspect.
Spencer said that when the sheriff’s office asked Klein ISD who from their organization provided that information, they have not yet received a response.