Former Forney principal, special education teacher federally indicted after child sex crime arrests

FORNEY, Texas - Two former Forney ISD educators have been federally indicted in connection to an investigation into the duo's scheme to employ a special education teacher with a suspect history under a different name.

Former Forney ISD educator indictments

What's New:

A federal grand jury has returned a 7-count indictment against former Forney ISD special education teacher Michael Roell and former Forney ISD principal Wendy Bailey.

Both face six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection to the duo's scheme to hire Roell despite a history of alleged abuse.

Bailey has already been charged with child endangerment and failure to report. A past arrest affidavit stated she failed to report Roell's alleged abuse of special needs students.

Roell was arrested by the Texas Rangers in May and was charged with two counts of injury to a child and one count of child grooming.

Former principal encouraged suspect's name change

The backstory:

Documents details how Bailey guided Jonathan Michael, who was previously known as Michael Roell, through changing his name in order to be hired by Forney ISD.

Michael Roell was arrested in 2016 while working for Garland ISD and charged with indecency to a child with sexual contact. He was later acquitted, and also worked at Dallas ISD from 2022 to 2024 and was rejected from employment in Plano ISD prior to his employment at Forney ISD.

The documents state Bailey was aware of Michael Roell's concerning past when he applied to Forney ISD, telling another teacher, "No thank you, LOLOLOL! Let's try again:)" in an email, but later reached out to him multiple times about a job in the district.

In text messages between Bailey and Michael Roell, Bailey said, "I truly feel for you and the position you have been put in. Definitely explore the name change route!" and "A good lawyer can get all the documents changed."

After Michael Roell changed his name to Johnathan Michael, he applied to Forney ISD under his new name and made no mention of his prior arrest or allegations in the application.

Johnathan Michael was eventually hired as a Forney ISD special education instructor in October 2025.

Forney ISD educator arrests

Dig deeper:

Bailey and Roell's arrests came after two teacher's aides reported that Roell inappropriately touched a special needs student at Crosby Elementary School in April, and had made sexually explicit comments towards other students. 

Investigators say Bailey moved the student to a different classroom and told the child's parents, "We are experiencing other behaviors in the room that required me to move him for safety reasons."

Roell is accused of two other incidents involving physical violence against Crosby Elementary special needs students, including allegedly pushing a student into a bookshelf and pinning a student on the ground with his knee.

Federal investigators also said Bailey failed to report in Jan. 2026, when Roell's initial abuse allegations surfaced, and he remained in his position.

The federal documents state that Bailey and Roell exchanged phone calls after a teacher's aides made the allegations. One reporting employee was reassigned to another classroom by Bailey after Roell complained about them.

Roell's alleged misconduct came to light when the teacher's aide who was reassigned reported the allegations to a parent directly.

Forney ISD has reached a settlement with the DOJ because the district received federal funding while falsely saying it was complying with mandatory reporting laws related to Bailey and Michael's arrests.

The district agreed to pay a fine and adopt enhanced compliance measures to prevent future reporting failures.

What's next:

Bailey has bonded out of jail. No court date has been set.

Michael remains in the Kaufman County Jail.