Franklin life coach Gordon Grigg accused of sex crimes gets October trial date
This story contains allegations of sexual abuse including sexual abuse against children. The Sexual Assault Center provides free counseling, advocate services and forensic exams at their SAFE Clinic for anyone. To reach the 24/7 crisis line, please call the Sexual Assault Center at 1-800-879-1999 or contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
Gordon Grigg, the former Franklin life coach and convicted fraudster, will go to trial this fall on more than a dozen sex crime charges including attempted bestiality and solicitation of rape of a child.
Grigg, 62, was indicted on 25 counts by a Williamson County grand jury in June. During an April 11 heairng, Judge Joseph Woodruff set Grigg's trial for Oct. 31 through Nov. 5.
After a 10-year stint in federal prison, Grigg became a life coach in Franklin. It appears he also owned the construction company Premier Builder Group in Franklin, based on that company's Facebook page.
In his role as a life coach, he stole the identities of at least two victims, according to the indictment. The identity theft was done "with the intent to commit" the sex crimes, the indictment states, but it does not state exactly how.
Prosecutors say in summer 2023, Grigg ordered two other people — not the ones whose identities he is accused of stealing — to sexually penetrate children. One of those people was an undercover agent, the indictment states. Twice, he told the adults to penetrate a child younger than 8 years old, according to the indictment.
He also told those same adults to have sexual activity with a dog, according to the indictment.
After a yearlong investigation between the Franklin Police Department and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a grand jury on June 5 indicted him on two counts of solicitation of aggravated rape of a child, one count of solicitation of rape of a child, nine counts of attempted bestiality, seven counts of distributing obscene material and six counts of identity theft.
A week after the 25-count indictment was returned, Grigg was arrested and booked into the Williamson County Jail on a $1 million bond. His bond was later lowered to $500,000, according to the Williamson County clerk's office. He remains in custody.
At the time of his arrest, police said it was possible there were additional victims.
Solicitation of the aggravated rape of a child is a Class C felony in Tennessee. Identity theft is a Class D felony, one classification lower. The other charges are Class A misdemeanors.
More than 60 victims lost more than $6 million in Grigg's phony investment company ProTrust Management between 1996 and 2009.
U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger sentenced him to 10 years in prison in 2009. Trauger said his case 'is very similar to the very famous Madoff Ponzi scheme,' but with 'a more vicious twist" because of his "pattern of preying on vulnerable individuals, people in crisis, in difficult spots in their lives,' and 'the use of religion and appealing to common religious values on the part of the victims.'
The prosecution was historic. The Tennessean reported it was the first-ever fraud prosecution related to a Great Recession-era federal bank bailout program.
In addition to the prison time, he was ordered to serve three years of supervised release after his sentence and repay $6,154,174 in restitution.
Have questions about the justice system? Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him with questions, tips or story ideas at emealins@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Franklin life coach accused of sex crimes gets October trial date
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