KLEIN, Texas — Houston-area community activists gathered to demand accountability after claiming Klein ISD knew one of its teachers was involved in a prostitution operation allegedly involving troubled students.
Kedria Grigsby, a cosmetology teacher at Klein Cain High School, was arrested earlier this week. She's accused of sex trafficking children and compelling prostitution along with her son. Klein ISD said Grigsby was in the process of being fired and was immediately placed on administrative leave when they learned of the charges.
Some local activists said the district knew what was going on long before the charges were filed against Grigsby.
"This teacher, Ms. Grigsby, was allowed to remain on this campus after it was brought to school administrators' attention that this was taking place in February of 2023," Quanell X said.
Quanell X and Dr. Candice Matthews were fired up Wednesday as they demanded accountability.
"It's unbelievable. In my years of activism, three decades, I have never seen anything like this," Quanell X said.
The activists said they have documents that prove Klein ISD knew about Grigsby's alleged misconduct.
"I demand you apologize to the parents because you all did know," Quanell X said.
They said Klein ISD knew about the allegations against Grigsby more than a year ago. They said a former teacher who worked at Klein Cain HS brought it to their attention after her own daughter -- also a student -- became a victim. The former teacher filed a police report as well as a written statement with the Harris County Sheriff's Office and shared it with the district. But, they said, district officials never took action.
"They didn't notify law enforcement and they didn't notify parents," Quanell X said.
Grigsby and her son, Roger Magee, are accused of running a prostitution ring and recruiting and trafficking troubled teenagers from local high schools. Magee was arrested in November 2022 on similar charges.
"They left a wolf in a chicken coop," Quanell X said.
Klein ISD denies the claims. They said that when they were made aware of the police report in February 2023, they contacted HCSO but were told Grigsby wasn't a suspect. They said it wasn't until she was arrested earlier this week that they were alerted to her again.
Matthews said her children go to school in the district, so the issue is personal to her.
"At the end of the day, our children all deserve a right to be in a school district where they are safe and where they are protected," Matthews said.
Here's the district's full statement:
"Once again, the information shared by Quanell X and Candace Matthews is completely false. The facts are that an individual notified us that she filed a report in Harris County related to former employee Keidra Grigsby in February 2023. That same day, our Klein ISD Police Department immediately contacted the Sheriff's Office with the case number provided to us by the individual, and the Harris County Sheriff's Office reported that Keidra Grigsby was not a suspect. The next time we heard anything related to Keidra Grigsby was this Monday when the Sheriff's Office contacted our police department regarding pending charges. The Klein Police Department then immediately apprehended Keidra Grigsby and assisted the Sheriff's Office with her arrest. Again, any behavior harming children is deplorable, and we will always fully cooperate with our many law enforcement partners to ensure anyone engaging in such acts is brought to justice."
Grigsby has yet to appear in court and remains in jail on a $750,000 bond.
Prosecutors said they have discovered three victims so far, but there could be more. One of the victims is a Klein ISD student. They also described how they were able to connect Grigsby to the crimes.
"We started to investigate the case based on an outcry of one of the victims, and through the investigation of her son, we came to corroborate some of the statements from the victims as well as digital evidence that this defendant was, in fact, involved with this case," Harris County Assistant District Attorney Steven Denman said.
