Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville fired from Tempe Preparatory Academy.
I never have liked Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville he always has seemed like a flaming *sshole.
SourceTempe councilman fired from teaching; he denies allegations of misconduct with former students
Anne Ryman and Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, The Republic | azcentral.com Published 8:41 p.m. MT Jan. 18, 2018 | Updated 10:05 a.m. MT Jan. 19, 2018
A Tempe city councilman was fired from his teaching job last month after two former students alleged he gave them alcohol when they were under 21; and one said he made unwanted sexual advances toward her.
Councilman Kolby Granville was fired from Tempe Preparatory Academy after the school hired an attorney to investigate the complaints, according to records and emails obtained by The Arizona Republic under the Arizona Public Records Law.
School officials said Granville was terminated Dec. 21 for "breaching his Faculty Contract and for failing to comply with Tempe Prep's Employee Handbook and Code of Ethics."
The ages of the former students were not available. According to the school documents, both were graduates of the public charter school at the time the incidents allegedly occurred.
In a statement, the school said: "We want to be clear that the reason for Mr. Granville’s termination has nothing to do with any known misconduct involving current students. We think it is important, however, to take allegations of any improper or unethical behavior seriously and to act swiftly, which we did in this case."
They declined to comment on details except to say that "we fully and thoroughly investigated the matter and reached the correct result."
The 43-year-old Granville, who had worked at the school since January 2013, acknowledged that he had a friendship that turned into a relationship with one of the school’s former students, which he says began when she was in college.
But he denied the remainder of the allegations.
"Categorically, I’ve never provided alcohol underage to a minor, hands down," he told The Republic.
Granville said he doesn't recall the events alleged by the second student and denies them.
The complaints come at a time when increasing numbers of women are coming forward across the country with allegations against men in powerful positions. The New York Times and the New Yorker published reports from women alleging decades of sexual harassment and assault by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, and the #MeToo movement has since unleashed claims ranging from inappropriate behavior to sexual assault.
First complaint: Provided alcohol on at least four occasions
Tempe Prep officials said they received the first complaint on Nov. 27 when an alum sent an email saying it was “of the utmost importance” to speak with the school’s headmaster about one of the faculty members.
The school would not release details of that meeting. But after the meeting with the former student the following day, the school hired an independent investigator within 24 hours to look into the allegations.
In a brief follow-up email between the former student and the school, she said Granville provided her with alcohol on at least four occasions while she was underage, including once when they spent the night in September 2016 in the same room at the Luxor hotel and casino in Las Vegas.
The school would not provide The Republic with a copy of the investigation and its findings, saying the document was protected by attorney-client privilege. The school provided copies of the two email complaints under the Arizona Public Records Law.
Granville told The Republic he was in a consensual relationship with the former student, who he said was never a student in any of his classes. He denies providing her with alcohol when she was under 21.
"I met her (when she was) an ASU student at a public event unrelated to education," he said.
"We went out once and then, maybe a year later, started dating. We dated six months, and it didn't work out and I broke it off," he said.
Second complaint: He 'insisted on getting me drinks even though I was underage'
Two days later, school officials said they received a second complaint from another former student, who said in an email she was “close friends” with the former student who made the first complaint.
“It is only after her bravery standing up that I now feel comfortable coming forward about my interactions with Mr. Granville,” the email said.
“It is only after her bravery standing up that I now feel comfortable coming forward about my interactions with Mr. Granville.”
From an email involving the second complaint The former student said Granville was never her teacher, but she knew him from attending the school. She said he messaged her through Facebook about a month after she graduated, inviting her to join a summer running group. In September 2013, he invited her to see a movie. She didn’t attend either event, her email said.
He also invited her to see a jazz performance at Tempe Center for the Arts, which she accepted, and afterward at a party he “insisted on getting me drinks even though I was underage and new to drinking,” according to the email.
She said he put his hand on her leg and kissed her without consent at the party.
The former student wrote she “reconnected” with Granville the summer of 2014, “during which he continued to purchase alcohol for me while I was underage and continued to flirt with me.”
In winter 2014, the email said, Granville invited her to go to San Francisco with him around New Year’s Eve, offering to pay for travel and expenses.
She agreed, and several weeks before the trip, he invited her over to his house where he gave her “multiple gin and cranberry cocktails," she wrote in the email to school officials.
She told him she was too drunk to drive and asked if she could sleep on his couch.
“Mr. Granville remarked that I should instead sleep in his bed since it was warmer and more comfortable,” she wrote in the email.
Once in the bed, he moved closer to her and stuck a hand down her pants, she said. She said she told him to stop, but he didn’t remove his hand.
“I pulled his hand out of my pants, grabbed my things and ran to my car and broke down in tears over what happened,” she wrote in the email.
The former student wrote that Granville asked her the next day if she still wanted to go to San Francisco, telling her, “it was unlikely I would ever get this chance again and I should take it.”
She told school officials she was persuaded to go with him to San Francisco and “no more advances were made after the trip.”
She lost contact with him after that but said she later spent time working on his campaign “where our relationship was more professional than personal.”
Granville said he was friends with the woman and her parents, but he has no recollection of the events she alleged. The first he became aware of the allegations was when the school questioned him during the investigation, he said.
"I had never heard of them. I categorically deny them," he told The Republic.
He said the woman did not work on his campaign, or if she did "she was so far removed from me, I didn’t know it."
School officials declined to provide the students’ names, saying they wanted to protect the identity of the complainants. Neither former student could be reached by The Republic for comment.
Granville's response: Complaint is 'payback for me breaking up with her'
Granville acknowledged to school officials in an email that he had a friendship with one of the former students that "turned into a relationship, " likely after the summer of 2016.
He later ended the relationship, he said. But he contends she continued to contact him to try to persuade him to resume dating as recently as October 2017.
Granville said in early November, he had posted on his Facebook page that he was in a new relationship with his current girlfriend.
“I have a dozen emails from students and parents after I left saying I’m the greatest teacher they’ve ever had.” Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville “I have to assume, based on timing, it was shortly after she realized I was in a new relationship she came to the school to file a complaint," he said in the email.
He told school officials in an email her complaint is “payback for me breaking up with her and realizing there is no chance for us to get back together. In that respect, well played, I guess,” he wrote.
Granville recently taught eighth-grade history at the school and 11th-grade Humane Letters, a teaching assignment that is a combination of American history and literature.
Granville was rated as an "effective" teacher in his last two evaluations with Tempe Prep, the second-highest of four ratings.
An evaluation in September 2016 said that he had clear expectations and procedures for students to follow and posed interesting questions to the class that allowed them to think more deeply.
In a routine anonymous survey of students in May 2017 that is conducted of all teachers at Tempe Prep, some raised concerns about inappropriate comments.
"Mr. Granville makes comments about the appearance of women that make me, as a teenage girl feel self-conscious, nervous, and uncomfortable," one student wrote. "Sometimes I feel Mr. Granville thinks he is a teenager and tries to be hip and cool, but it backfires."
Granville said he doesn't recall making comments that would make female students uncomfortable.
“I will make the usual comments of 'Oh, you got a haircut,' or whatever, but it’s not exclusive to boys or girls in the classes,” he said.
Granville said that since being fired, he has received lots of support.
"I have a dozen emails from students and parents after I left saying I’m the greatest teacher they’ve ever had," he said.
'If you’re going to fire me, fire me'
The 425-student Tempe Preparatory Academy serves grades six through 12 and is so popular that school officials use a “lottery system” for new admissions. Tempe Prep is consistently among the top five schools in the state for the percentage of students who go onto college and earn bachelor's degrees.
The day before he was fired, Dec. 20, Granville posted on his Facebook page a picture of him in an educational promotion for Expect More Arizona, a non-profit, educational advocacy group.
The promotion reads:
"I have a BA in Secondary Education, an M.Ed. in Educational Technology and a law degree. I make $43,000 a year teaching. After inflation, I make less money now than when I started teaching five years ago. Teacher pay matters because you want people who love teaching to be able to afford to do the job they love. The world doesn't need more lawyers."
On the morning of Dec. 21, school officials sent him an email, asking him to come to the headmaster's office before he left for the day.
The school did not release details on the meeting.
Granville said he talked with the headmaster and the attorney and then the school gave him some options.
“I said, 'If you’re going to fire me, fire me,' and they did.”
That afternoon, the school sent a one-paragraph email from the headmaster to families, informing them that Granville would not be returning to teach for the second semester.
"We wish him good luck in his future endeavors. We will immediately begin recruiting Mr. Granville's replacement."
The email did not say why Granville was not returning.
In a statement to The Republic, Tempe Prep Board member Chad Sampson said he fully supports the administration's decision.
"No school administrator should have to deal with allegations of misconduct by teachers, but when confronted with this difficult situation, Tempe Prep’s headmaster and his team performed their duties with grace, speed and professionalism and in accordance with the law," he said.
Granville posted on his personal Facebook page on Jan. 6 that he had started a new job as an attorney at a Phoenix law firm.
"While I have loved my time teaching at Tempe Prep, I am very excited to start a new chapter in my life working as an attorney again doing major felony defense work. Feel free to contact me if you, or someone you know, is facing 10+ years in jail. Hopefully, I will never hear from you," he wrote.
In an interview with The Republic, Granville said he loves teaching and thinks it's a great job.
"It’s the one thing I’ve done in my whole life that I both love doing and have a natural ability for," he said. "I was very disappointed I wouldn’t get to teach at the school anymore."
School officials said the recent complaints involving Granville weren’t reported to law enforcement under a state reporting statute because the former students weren't minors and there was no immediate danger.
If a school believes a teacher certified in Arizona has engaged in unprofessional conduct, they can report the behavior to the Arizona Department of Education. That did not apply in this case because Granville is no longer a certified teacher in Arizona. He wasn't required to be certified to teach at Tempe Prep because it's a charter school — a public school that is free of many of the governmental restrictions on traditional schools.
Outspoken Tempe council member
Granville, first elected to the Tempe City Council in 2012, is known for being active in neighborhood associations and isn't shy about voting contrary to his colleagues on the council.
He was the only council member to vote against a recent controversial $21 million tax break to bring a hotel and conference center to Tempe.
Within the last year, Granville has received two letters of reprimand from the city, one for using a profane term in a zoning debate with a staff member and another for calling a constituent a name on social media.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Granville’s termination at the school could result in disciplinary action by the city.
Tempe’s employee handbook states that an employee can face discipline if he or she is "engaged in conduct, on or off duty, that is of such a nature that it causes discredit to the City."
Reach the reporter at 602-444-8072 or anne.ryman@arizonarepublic.com and jerod.macdonald@republicmedia.com.
Wonder if Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville will take the 5th and refuse to answer questions from the Phoenix Police.
That's what Tempe's Mayor Mark Mitchell did when he was investigated for rape. That was back when Mark Mitchell was a Tempe City Councilman, not the mayor.
I posted that article from the Arizona Republic after this article.
And when it comes to flaming *ssholes, I certainly think that Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville is a big one from my few dealings with the guy.
On the other hand even if Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville is a flaming *sshole, he deserves a fair trial.
Usually when government officials investigate themselves, the final result is they did nothing wrong.
But since Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville isn't very well liked by the other Tempe City Councilmen, this investigation could be used to railroad him.
Phoenix police to investigate Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville over misconduct allegations
Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, The Republic | azcentral.com Published 5:58 p.m. MT Jan. 22, 2018
Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville was fired from Tempe Preparatory Academy in December 2017 over allegations that he gave former underage students alcohol and made unwanted sexual advances toward one. Wochit
Tempe announced Monday that the Phoenix Police Department will investigate allegations of misconduct against City Councilman Kolby Granville involving former students of Tempe Preparatory Academy.
Granville was fired from his teaching job at Tempe Prep last month after two former students alleged he gave them alcohol when they were younger than 21, and one said he made unwanted sexual advances toward her.
The 43-year-old Granville has acknowledged a relationship with one of the former students, which he said began when she was in college. He has denied the remainder of the allegations.
Tempe police requested that Phoenix police investigate "due to potential conflict of interest issues and to ensure an unbiased process," according to a statement released Monday afternoon by Tempe spokeswoman Nikki Ripley.
"Tempe will not be updated about the investigation or speak to it until it is concluded," Ripley said in the statement.
Once the criminal investigation has concluded, Tempe will "use the facts" found by the police inquiry to guide a City Council code-of-conduct investigation. Granville was the subject of two investigations using this process last year.
"No further statements will be made by the City of Tempe at this time, so that the Phoenix investigation can proceed without distraction or influence," the statement ended.
Granville had no comment on the announcement.
In a statement last week, Tempe said it was unaware of the allegations until reading The Arizona Republic report.
Tempe leaders call for investigation
Councilman David Schapira called on Friday for a criminal investigation into the allegations.
"The conduct Council member Granville has been accused of is criminal in nature. Law enforcement should immediately conduct an investigation. If the allegations are true, he has no place on the City Council," Schapira told The Republic.
Vice Mayor Robin Arredondo-Savage supported an investigation into the matter at the city level, a sentiment echoed by the rest of the council Friday.
"The allegations against Council member Granville are very concerning. They show questionable values at the very least and potential illegal activity at the worst," she said.
School officials said the complaints involving Granville weren’t reported to law enforcement under a state reporting statute because the former students weren't minors and there was no immediate danger.
Granville, who is an attorney, also faces possible scrutiny from the State Bar of Arizona.
Amy Rehm, deputy chief bar counsel, said it is reviewing the allegations to determine if "sufficient cause" exists to warrant an investigation.
Tempe Prep hired an attorney in late November to investigate the complaints by two former students, according to records and emails obtained by The Republic under the Arizona Public Records Law. The school would not release the investigation and its findings, saying the documents were protected by attorney-client privilege.
The charter school's officials said Granville was fired Dec. 21 for "breaching his Faculty Contract and for failing to comply with Tempe Prep's Employee Handbook and Code of Ethics."
Sgt. Alan Pfohl, Phoenix police spokesman, said the department had accepted the case for investigation.
"We are not providing comment at this time as we don’t yet know the scope of the investigation, nor would we comment on an active investigation," he said in a statement.
Republic reporter Anne Ryman contributed to this article.
Tempe City Councilman Mark Mitchell takes the 5th!!!!
About 10 years ago Mark Mitchell's brother Sgt. Robert Mitchell falsely arrested me for about 2 hours because I took the 5th and refused to answer his questions and questions from his partner James Jandreau.
I later filed a lawsuit in Federal Court suing the city of Tempe, Sgt. Robert Mitchel and James Jandreau for false arrest and civil rights violations.
Report: Mark Mitchell declines police queries on decades-old claim
by Dianna M. Náñez - May. 15, 2012 09:41 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com
In an interview with Phoenix police last week, Mark Mitchell declined to answer questions about decades-old sexual-abuse allegations but did give a statement denying them, according to a police report released Tuesday.
The report was released the same day voters went to the polls to elect Mitchell or opponent Michael Monti as Tempe's new mayor.
Mitchell, a three-term councilman and vice president of a Tempe flooring company, has spent the past week combating the allegations, which he has called false and a "vile" political ploy to destroy his reputation and cost him the election.
"I've been clear, I've done nothing wrong. Not now and not 30 years ago when I was a boy," he said in a statement and video to voters posted last weekend on his campaign website. "But I'm sending this because you deserve to know the truth from me personally. Just as Tempe deserves a race for mayor based not on personal attacks, but on the issues."
Monti, a longtime downtown Tempe restaurateur, also issued a statement last Thursday lashing out at Mitchell for tying him and his campaign to the allegations.
"I did not wish to comment on this, but I am forced to because Mr. Mitchell is actually trying to blame our issues-based campaign for this chain of events," he said. "Neither I nor anyone associated with my campaign had anything to do with the criminal investigation of Mr. Mitchell."
Earlier this month, police referred their investigation into the allegations to prosecutors with recommended felony charges, but said they made no arrest due to the length of time that has passed since the alleged offense, and the ages of those involved at the time.
Police tried for weeks to schedule an interview with Mitchell. Mitchell's attorneys ultimately scheduled the interview for last Monday after police informed them on April 30 that the case could be referred to prosecutors without his statement. Despite securing a date for the interview, police referred their findings absent Mitchell's statement to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, who has endorsed Monti, recused himself from the investigation and turned it over to Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk.
Yavapai officials said they expect to finish reviewing the investigation by June. Phoenix police have referred Mitchell's interview to Yavapai.
The allegations surfaced in February, one month before Tempe's March primary, from a 39-year-old Tempe woman whose name was redacted from the public record.
She told police the abuse occurred four times in 1983 when she was 10 and Mitchell was about 16. Mitchell, 42, would have been no older than 14 in 1983.
Investigators secretly recorded an April 5 conversation between the alleged victim and Mitchell. According to police reports, Mitchell apologized to her and said that they were young and experimenting and that he never meant to hurt her.
More of the old "Do as I say, not as I do" from our religious leaders, government masters and police???
Looks like Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville loves underaged girls.
Third woman files complaint of misconduct against Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville
Anne Ryman and Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, The Republic | azcentral.com Published 11:31 a.m. MT Feb. 6, 2018 | Updated 11:32 a.m. MT Feb. 6, 2018
Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville was fired from Tempe Preparatory Academy in December 2017 over allegations that he gave former underage students alcohol and made unwanted sexual advances toward one. Wochit
A third woman has come forward with allegations of misconduct against Tempe City Councilman Kolby Granville that she said happened shortly after she graduated from the school where he taught.
The woman in late January filed a complaint with the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools, detailing incidents with Granville that "made me feel violated, intimidated and uncomfortable."
Granville was fired from the teaching job at Tempe Preparatory Academy in December after two otherwomen who were former Tempe Prep students complained to the school, alleging he gave them alcohol when they were younger than 21, and one said he made unwanted sexual advances toward her.
The 43-year-old Granville has acknowledged a relationship with one of the two women who complained to the school, which he said began when she was in college. He has denied the remainder of the two women's allegations.
The most recent complaint states that the former student told a teacher about Granville's unwanted sexual advances shortly after she says they happened in 2013. In the complaint, she expresses concern that school officials didn't take action then.
"This belittled my experience and made me second guess coming forward not only to the school, but others," she said in the recent complaint.
The Republic could not reach that teacher, who no longer works at the school, for comment Monday.
School officials said they are looking into the matter.
At this time, Tempe Preparatory Academy “does not have any reason to believe that the complaints regarding Mr. Granville of which TPA is now aware were made to TPA faculty members, or that such faculty members failed to report those complaints to school administration," a statement from the school said.
School officials said they were "deeply dismayed" to learn that another former student has come forward with allegations.
"Although none of these reports have involved current students, or allegations of inappropriate conduct while these individuals were students at TPA, we take all such reports seriously," the school said in a statement.
The statement goes onto say that the recent complaint confirms the school's "swift action to terminate Mr. Granville’s employment was the right decision."
Tempe Prep Board member Chad Sampson said in a separate statement on Monday that "Mr. Granville's reported actions are repugnant and have hurt these women, his former colleagues, and the school he claims to love."
Granville declined comment on the third complaint.
"There is nothing I can say about anything at this point. I’m totally on lockdown from my attorney," he said.
Complainant 'deeply disturbed' by Granville's behavior
The woman, now a 22-year-old student at Arizona State University, spoke with The Republic, which typically does not identify victims of alleged sex crimes.
She said she was introduced to Granville in August 2013 by a teacher at the school because she was planning a trip to Europe. The teacher suggested the young woman speak with Granville as he had experience traveling abroad, according to the complaint.
The woman alleges Granville invited her to his house in September 2013 to eat ice cream and discuss her upcoming travel. She accepted and the two went to the roof to talk. After several minutes of conversation, he asked her to lay her head on his chest, the complaint said.
"When I appeared to take too long to think about it, he said it wasn't a big deal and pulled me closer," she said in the complaint. He then began to talk "in detail" about his sexual experiences, which she said made her feel uncomfortable.
He kept taking her hand and putting it on his chest; she would pull it away and he would put it back, the complaint alleges.
When she told Granville she had to leave, he asked her if she was 18, according to the complaint. She told him she wasn't. She was 17 at the time.
"Well that shoots down my goodnight kiss idea," she alleges Granville said in reply.
Two months later, she said she met with Granville again at his home to return travel books she had borrowed. At this point she had turned 18.
Granville opened the door and told her to put the books on the table. After she did, she noticed he had closed the door and moved closer to her, according to the complaint.
He kissed her without consent, she alleges.
“I was pretty shocked he had done that,” she told The Republic, adding that she pushed him away.
She said she wanted to leave. But she said he moved in front of the door and told her he did not want her to leave yet. He put his hands on her upper arm while slightly touching her chest and kissed her again without her consent, according to the complaint.
“Just the look in his eyes made me feel really scared,” she said to The Republic.
She said she told him again that she thought she should leave and made it clear she was uncomfortable.
Her complaint says Granville replied that "maybe I should leave before we both 'do something we regret.' "
About a month later, the woman said she told the same teacher who had recommended she ask Granville for travel advice about the incident.
"I recall her laughing off the incident, saying that it was weird but sounded like him," the complaint said.
“I felt I was asking her to do something and not just have it all on me," she told The Republic.
She added that she wished the school had done more at the time. Beyond her claim that she mentioned it to the teacher, she did not file a complaint with school officials then.
She did not take it further at the time because of Granville's leadership position in the Tempe community, she said.
“What do you do when that person is a teacher, an attorney and a city councilman?” she said about Granville.
She told The Republic the recent #MeToo movement prompted her decision to come forward.
“It gets me emotional sometimes," she said, and began to cry. "I felt like maybe I should have done something earlier.”
To this day, she said the experience with Granville has left her uncomfortable being alone in a room with an older man and it makes her feel "trapped."
She said the school made the right decision to fire Granville in the end.
She filed her complaint after seeing the two other women come forward to the school.
She said she wants the "full facts" of Granville's behavior to be known to employers where he might teach and to young people with whom he may interact.
What happens next?
The state charter board has asked the school for a written response to the complaint within 10 days, which is standard practice when the board receives complaints involving public charter schools.
It's not clear yet whether the state charter school board will take action beyond asking the school for a response to the complaint.
The charter board oversees more than 500 charter schools in Arizona.
Charter schools are independent public schools, and most operate separately from school districts with their own governing boards.
The woman who filed the latest complaint told The Republic she is considering filing a report with the Phoenix Police Department, which is conducting an investigation into the complaints at the request of Tempe. Granville's colleagues on the Tempe City Council have called for his resignation, if the misconduct allegations prove to be true.
Reach the reporters at 602-444-8072 or anne.ryman@arizonarepublic.com and jerod.macdonald@republicmedia.com
More of the old "Do as I say, not as I do" from our religious leaders, government masters and police???
Interesting Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell seems to think Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville should be booted from the Tempe City Council. He didn't come out and say that, but from the article he seems to think it:
Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell said it is important that the Phoenix Police Department continue its investigation.Isn't that the same Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell who when he was a Tempe City Councilman Mark Mitchell took the 5th when he was investigated for rape....
“The allegations involving Councilmember Granville continue to be serious and troubling, and the women who have come forward deserve to be heard and respected," Mitchell said in a statement to The Republic on Tuesday.
In an interview with Phoenix police last week, Mark Mitchell declined to answer questions about decades-old sexual-abuse allegationsI attached the article about Tempe City Councilman Mark Mitchell taking the Fifth with this article about Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville
Two Tempe leaders call on Councilman Kolby Granville to resign amid 'dark cloud'
Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, The Republic | azcentral.com Published 10:03 p.m. MT Feb. 6, 2018
Two Tempe leaders called for City Councilman Kolby Granville to resign amid "growing controversy" as a third young woman lodged allegations of misconduct against the former teacher.
Councilman Randy Keating issued a statement Tuesday that "Granville has become a distraction from city business" and should consider resigning.
Granville was fired from his teaching job at Tempe Preparatory Academy in December after two former students filed complaints with the school, alleging he gave them alcohol when they were younger than 21, and one said he made unwanted sexual advances toward her.
A third young woman filed a complaint in late January with the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools, saying Granville made unwanted sexual advances toward her in 2013, shortly after she graduated from the school.
The original claims to the school, and the subsequent complaint to the charter board, were first reported by The Arizona Republic.
The 43-year-old Granville has acknowledged a relationship with one of the two women who complained to the school, which he said began when she was in college. He has denied the remainder of the two women's allegations.
As for the latest complaint, Granville has declined comment.
"There is nothing I can say about anything at this point. I’m totally on lockdown from my attorney," he said on Monday.
Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell said it is important that the Phoenix Police Department continue its investigation. Tempe announced on Jan. 22 that Phoenix police would investigate the allegations to avoid any conflicts of interest.
“The allegations involving Councilmember Granville continue to be serious and troubling, and the women who have come forward deserve to be heard and respected," Mitchell said in a statement to The Republic on Tuesday.
'Dark cloud' looms
Following the third complaint, Councilwoman Lauren Kuby joined Keating on Tuesday in calling for Granville to resign.
"At a loss for words. She was 17," Kuby said on Facebook, "she was a CHILD."
“For the good of the city, he should seriously consider resigning.”
Randy Keating, Tempe councilman
Kuby added, "Granville should consider what's best for the people of Tempe."
Keating's statement called the allegations "serious, deeply troubling and credible."
"I do not believe it is in the best interest of Tempe for Councilman Granville to continue to serve with such a dark cloud and pending criminal investigation lingering. For the good of the city, he should seriously consider resigning," his statement said.
Granville is in his second term, which runs through 2020.
Councilman David Schapira said he is confident the Phoenix investigation will be "comprehensive and expeditious" and Granville should resign immediately if the allegations are true.
Schapira also expressed concerns about whether the school was aware of the latest allegations in 2013.
"I am also concerned that these allegations were not investigated years ago if indeed school personnel at Tempe Prep were made aware of the conduct at that time. I am hopeful that the state charter-school board will conduct a thorough investigation as well," Schapira said.
The third complaint
The latest woman to file a complaint, now a 22-year-old student at Arizona State University, told The Republic the recent #MeToo movement prompted her decision to come forward. She said she filed her complaint with the charter board after seeing the two other women come forward to the school.
The Republic typically does not identify victims of alleged sex crimes.
The woman said in the complaint that she was introduced to Granville in August 2013 when she sought his advice on traveling abroad. The woman alleges Granville invited her to his house that September to eat ice cream and discuss her upcoming travel. She said that he pulled her closer and began to talk about his sexual experiences, which made her uncomfortable.
When she told Granville she had to leave, he asked her if she was 18, according to the complaint. She told him she wasn't. She was 17 at the time.
"Well that shoots down my goodnight kiss idea," she alleges Granville said in reply.
Her complaint goes on to say that Granville kissed her twice without her consent when she returned travel books she had borrowed two months later. At this point, she had turned 18.
“Just the look in his eyes made me feel really scared,” she said to The Republic.
The woman says she told a teacher about Granville's unwanted sexual advances shortly after she says they happened in 2013. In the complaint, she expresses concern that school officials didn't take action then.
"This belittled my experience and made me second guess coming forward not only to the school, but others," she said in the complaint.
The Republic could not reach that teacher, who no longer works at the school, for comment.
School officials said they are looking into the matter.
At this time, Tempe Preparatory Academy “does not have any reason to believe that the complaints regarding Mr. Granville of which TPA is now aware were made to TPA faculty members, or that such faculty members failed to report those complaints to school administration," a statement from the school said.
Granville loses teaching job
Tempe Preparatory Academy hired an attorney in late November to investigate the complaints by two former students, according to records and emails obtained by The Arizona Republic under the Arizona Public Records Law. The school would not release the investigation and its findings, saying the documents were protected by attorney-client privilege.
The charter-school officials said Granville was fired Dec. 21 for "breaching his Faculty Contract and for failing to comply with Tempe Prep's Employee Handbook and Code of Ethics."
Republic reporter Anne Ryman contributed to this article. Reach the reporter at jerod.macdonald@republicmedia.com
Report: Mark Mitchell declines police queries on decades-old claim
by Dianna M. Náñez - May. 15, 2012 09:41 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com
In an interview with Phoenix police last week, Mark Mitchell declined to answer questions about decades-old sexual-abuse allegations but did give a statement denying them, according to a police report released Tuesday.
The report was released the same day voters went to the polls to elect Mitchell or opponent Michael Monti as Tempe's new mayor.
Mitchell, a three-term councilman and vice president of a Tempe flooring company, has spent the past week combating the allegations, which he has called false and a "vile" political ploy to destroy his reputation and cost him the election.
"I've been clear, I've done nothing wrong. Not now and not 30 years ago when I was a boy," he said in a statement and video to voters posted last weekend on his campaign website. "But I'm sending this because you deserve to know the truth from me personally. Just as Tempe deserves a race for mayor based not on personal attacks, but on the issues."
Monti, a longtime downtown Tempe restaurateur, also issued a statement last Thursday lashing out at Mitchell for tying him and his campaign to the allegations.
"I did not wish to comment on this, but I am forced to because Mr. Mitchell is actually trying to blame our issues-based campaign for this chain of events," he said. "Neither I nor anyone associated with my campaign had anything to do with the criminal investigation of Mr. Mitchell."
Earlier this month, police referred their investigation into the allegations to prosecutors with recommended felony charges, but said they made no arrest due to the length of time that has passed since the alleged offense, and the ages of those involved at the time.
Police tried for weeks to schedule an interview with Mitchell. Mitchell's attorneys ultimately scheduled the interview for last Monday after police informed them on April 30 that the case could be referred to prosecutors without his statement. Despite securing a date for the interview, police referred their findings absent Mitchell's statement to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, who has endorsed Monti, recused himself from the investigation and turned it over to Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk.
Yavapai officials said they expect to finish reviewing the investigation by June. Phoenix police have referred Mitchell's interview to Yavapai.
The allegations surfaced in February, one month before Tempe's March primary, from a 39-year-old Tempe woman whose name was redacted from the public record.
She told police the abuse occurred four times in 1983 when she was 10 and Mitchell was about 16. Mitchell, 42, would have been no older than 14 in 1983.
Investigators secretly recorded an April 5 conversation between the alleged victim and Mitchell. According to police reports, Mitchell apologized to her and said that they were young and experimenting and that he never meant to hurt her.
More of the old "Do as I say, not as I do" from our religious leaders, government masters and police???
What we know: Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville misconduct allegations
Jerod MacDonald-Evoy and Anne Ryman, The Republic | azcentral.com Published 5:29 p.m. MT Feb. 8, 2018 | Updated 8:42 a.m. MT Feb. 9, 2018
Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville is accused of misconduct by three women in connection to his former teaching post.
Two councilmembers, Lauren Kuby and Randy Keating, called for his resignation Tuesday after The Arizona Republic reported a third young woman had come forward, filing a complaint alleging Granville made unwanted sexual advances toward her shortly after she graduated high school.
Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell said Tuesday that it is important that the Phoenix Police Department continue its investigation into the allegations against Granville.
Who is Granville?
Granville, 43, was twice elected to the City Council. His current term ends in 2020.
Granville is an attorney turned teacher, who began teaching at Tempe Preparatory Academy In January 2013. He was fired Dec. 21, 2017.
Why was he fired?
Granville was fired from Tempe Preparatory Academy after the school hired an attorney to investigate complaints of misconduct by two women who are former students of Tempe Prep but were not in Granville's classes, according to records and emails obtained by The Arizona Republic under the Arizona Public Records Law.
School officials said Granville was terminated for "breaching his Faculty Contract and for failing to comply with Tempe Prep's Employee Handbook and Code of Ethics."
In a statement, the school said: "We want to be clear that the reason for Mr. Granville’s termination has nothing to do with any known misconduct involving current students. We think it is important, however, to take allegations of any improper or unethical behavior seriously and to act swiftly, which we did in this case."
Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville was fired from Tempe Preparatory Academy in December 2017 over allegations that he gave former underage students alcohol and made unwanted sexual advances toward one. Wochit
What's he accused of?
Two former Tempe Prep students in late November alleged to the school that Granville gave them alcohol when they were under 21; and one said he made unwanted sexual advances toward her. The women said the incidents occurred between 2013 and 2016.
A third student filed a complaint with the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools in late January, saying Granville made unwanted sexual advances toward her shortly after she graduated in 2013.
None of the three women were in Granville's classes and the alleged incidents occurred after they graduated.
What does Granville say?
Granville has acknowledged a relationship with one of the former students, which he said began when she was in college. He has denied the remainder of the allegations.
"Categorically, I’ve never provided alcohol underage to a minor, hands down," he told The Republic.
Granville declined comment on the third complaint, which The Republic reported on Feb. 6.
"There is nothing I can say about anything at this point. I’m totally on lockdown from my attorney," he said.
The first complaint
The school received the first complaint from a former student in late November.
The school would not release details of its meeting with the young woman, but provided a brief follow-up email between the former student and the school. In the email, she says Granville provided her with alcohol on at least four occasions while she was underage, including once in 2016 when they spent the night in the same room at the Luxor hotel and casino in Las Vegas.
Granville told The Republic he was in a consensual relationship with the woman, who he said he met when she was a student at Arizona State University.
The second complaint
Two days after the first complaint, another woman filed a complaint with the school.
In an email, the former Tempe Prep student, who is now 22, alleged that Granville invited her to a concert, "insisted on getting me drinks" and put his hand on her leg and kissed her without consent in 2013, which was shortly after she graduated from Tempe Prep.
In 2014, she said Granville served her alcohol at his home and made unwanted sexual advances, including sticking his hand down her pants.
“I pulled his hand out of my pants, grabbed my things and ran to my car and broke down in tears over what happened,” she wrote in the email.
The third complaint
Shortly after the The Republic wrote about the two complaints against Granville, a third young woman filed a complaint with the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools in late January.
She had graduated from Tempe Prep in 2013.
The woman, now a 22-year-old student at ASU, spoke with The Republic, which typically does not identify victims of alleged sex crimes.
The former student said in her complaint that Granville invited her to his house to talk about her plans to travel abroad. She said he began to talk "in detail" about his sexual experiences and kept taking her hand and putting it on his chest, according to the complaint.
When she told Granville she had to leave, he asked her if she was 18, according to the complaint. She told him she wasn't. She was 17 at the time.
"Well that shoots down my goodnight kiss idea," she alleges Granville said in reply.
Two months later, when she went to Granville's house again to return travel books, she said in the complaint that he closed the door and kissed her without her consent. At this point she had turned 18.
“Just the look in his eyes made me feel really scared,” she said to The Republic.
What more is Tempe Prep doing?
In the third complaint, the young woman said that she told a teacher about Granville's unwanted sexual advances shortly after she says they happened in 2013. In the complaint, she expressed concern that school officials didn't take action then.
"This belittled my experience and made me second guess coming forward not only to the school, but others," she said in the complaint.
The Republic has not reached the teacher, who no longer works at he school, for comment.
School officials said they are looking into the matter.
At this time, Tempe Preparatory Academy “does not have any reason to believe that the complaints regarding Mr. Granville of which TPA is now aware were made to TPA faculty members, or that such faculty members failed to report those complaints to school administration," a statement from the school said.
The statement goes on to say that the recent complaint confirms the school's "swift action to terminate Mr. Granville’s employment was the right decision."
What is the city doing?
Tempe officials said they were unaware of the allegations against Granville until reading The Republic's initial story on Jan. 18.
"The City of Tempe is reviewing the allegations made in the article, alongside the City Council Code of Conduct, and is evaluating what actions should be taken," a city statement on Jan. 19 said.
On Jan. 22, the city announced that Phoenix police would conduct an investigation into the allegations to avoid any conflicts of interest. Tempe expects to conduct its own investigation once Phoenix makes its determination, a city statement said.
What are Tempe leaders saying?
After the third complaint, councilmembers Lauren Kuby and Randy Keating called on Granville to resign.
"Granville has become a distraction from city business," Keating said in a statement Feb. 6.
"At a loss for words. She was 17," Kuby said on Facebook, "she was a CHILD."
Councilman David Schapira said he is confident the Phoenix investigation will be "comprehensive and expeditious" and Granville should resign immediately if the allegations are true.
Reach the reporters at jerod.macdonald@republicmedia.com and anne.ryman@arizonarepublic.com.