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A Mesa school resource officer has retired and given up his badge after admitting to masturbating, having oral sex, and sleeping in his school office.
The Mesa Police Department said then-officer Brian Gray made those admissions while undergoing a polygraph test and background check to transfer to a northern Arizona police department. That department's findings were reported to the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, which shared the information with Mesa police.
Weeks after learning he was under internal affairs investigation in Mesa, Gray retired in July. He worked more than 20 years for the department, and he had even been featured in an ABC15 report in 2020 for his service to his hometown. ABC15 was unaware of the misconduct allegations at the time of that report.
Mesa's internal investigation sustained allegations of criminal and sexual misconduct. Mesa reports Gray admitted to sleeping in the school resource office. He was also accused of masturbating, having oral sex with his wife, and viewing adult pornography in the school resource office. The report said Gray also touched the breast of a school security employee in 2008.
Gray also admitted, during the background investigation, that he had been involved in a domestic violence incident, shot at wildlife without a license, committed perjury during court testimony, and once stole a rifle sling, according to the internal affairs report.
Gray voluntarily gave up his state peace officer certification this month.
Last week, when ABC15 initially questioned Mesa about the officer's sudden decision to give up the badge, the police department did not disclose the nature of his misconduct. Friday, the department released the former officer's picture and two reports related to the misconduct allegation.
The investigative reports did not sustain any allegations of misconduct against children at any Mesa schools.
