Ex-teacher indicted on 15 counts of molesting girls
Gregor, awaiting trial on 14 felony charges in Rio Arriba County, now accused of assaulting children in Santa Fe
A grand jury on Wednesday indicted a former elementary school teacher on 15 felony counts of molesting two girls in Santa Fe during the 2003-04 school year.
Gary Gregor, 61, already faces 14 felony charges accusing him of molesting children in Rio Arriba County between August 2006 and June 2008 in a separate criminal case. A trial on those charges, initially filed in April, is scheduled for January.
The additional charges filed Wednesday allege Gregor molested girls under the age of 13 between August 2003 and June 2004, when, according to civil filings, he was fired as a teacher from the former Agua Fría Elementary School.
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas’ office is prosecuting both cases.
Balderas’ office has said that Gregor rejected a plea deal in the Rio Arriba case that would have exposed him to more than 50 years in prison. His rejection of the deal means Gregor faces a maximum sentence of 165 years if convicted of all those charges. It also means the alleged victims might have to testify against him in open court.
The new indictment means Gregor now could be exposed to much more than 165 years if convicted on the Santa Fe charges.
The indictment alleges that Gregor committed multiple counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor under the age of 13 and criminal sexual contact with a minor under the age 13.
A teacher since the mid-1980s who faced allegations of sexual misconduct in Utah, Gregor was hired in Santa Fe as a special-education teacher at Ortiz Middle School for the 2000-01 school year, but he received negative evaluations there and was not recommended for rehiring, according to the civil complaint. The next year, he was hired to teach fourth grade at Agua Fría Elementary School, which has since shut down.
During a class field trip to a Santa Fe museum in 2004, museum docents reported to his superiors that they witnessed inappropriate touching between Gregor and students.
No report was made to police, however, and when he agreed to resign without a formal hearing, district officials agreed to provide a neutral recommendation to any future employer.
Española Public Schools hired Gregor in 2005. He taught at Mountain View Elementary School in Truchas. When concerns were raised there, he was transferred to Fairview Elementary School in Española.
Jason Bowles, Gregor’s attorney, on Monday filed a motion to withdraw as Gregor’s attorney in the first criminal case, citing “a structural conflict with Mr. Gregor, which would prevent him from continuing effective representation.”
A prosecutor for the Attorney General’s Office has asked to combine the criminal cases into one, Bowles wrote in his motion.
Gregor has pleaded not guilty to the charges in the first case. He has not entered a plea to the 15 felony charges filed Wednesday. An arraignment, where he may enter a plea, is scheduled for Thursday.