Millsap ISD educators accused of failing to report abuse say they reported months ago
Millsap educators baffled by indictments in abuse case
Three Millsap ISD educators say they are shocked to have been indicted on Thursday for failing to report abuse of a student; abuse they claim they brought to administrators' attention months ago.
PARKER COUNTY, Texas - Three Millsap ISD educators say they are shocked to have been indicted on Thursday for failing to report abuse of a student; abuse they claim they brought to administrators' attention months ago.
Millsap ISD indictments
In Texas, grand juries meet to decide whether to indict felony cases. This grand jury was meeting regarding the superintendent, but as more details came out, the grand jury decided to indict three additional educators on misdemeanor charges.
It appears these educators had no idea they were going to be indicted.
Jeannie Chavez says she’s worked inside Millsap Elementary’s special needs classroom for five years. Including last February, when teacher Jennifer Dale allegedly swatted at an autistic child named Alex Cornelius, and paraprofessional Paxton Bean allegedly hit the 10-year-old with a toy.
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What they're saying:
"We reported the abuse. We thought we were doing the right thing," said Chavez.
"We feel like we’re made out to be the bad guys when all we were trying to do is protect the children," Chavez went on.
Chavez said she and two other paraprofessionals, one of whom recorded the video, raised concerns to the superintendent and deputy superintendent the next day. Bypassing the school’s now-former principal, because she’s Bean’s mother.
"We had to have that evidence because of who our boss was — who our supervisor was," said Chavez.
Chavez provided FOX 4 with a document apparently signed by the superintendent, directing her to "refrain from discussing this matter" "to preserve the integrity of the district’s investigation."
"And they assured us that everything was going to be handled properly," said Chavez.
But on Thursday, a grand jury indicted Chavez and the two other paraprofessionals on misdemeanor failure to report child abuse charges.
The Parker County District Attorney’s Office tells FOX 4 the three did not report the allegations to CPS, law enforcement or the Texas Education Agency within 48 hours as required by law.
"We tried to do the right thing. We thought we were doing the right thing," said Chavez.
In March, Dale and Bean were charged with misdemeanor official oppression.
Superintendent Edie Martin was charged with felony failure to report, but on Thursday, a grand jury lowered Martin’s charge to a misdemeanor while also indicting the three educators who did not face charges previously: Jeannie Chavez, who previously went by Jeannie Bottorff, Shannon Krause and Jami Riggs.
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Riggs addressed the school board in March about recording the video.
"Instead of taking immediate or appropriate action, Dr. Martin assured me that everything would be handled correctly," said Riggs.
On Thursday, Cornelius’ mother spoke with FOX 4 about the indictments.
"I do not believe that any of this would’ve come to light had it not been for those three standing up for my son, and I’m very grateful for them. And I quite frankly don’t think that they should be charged in any of this," she said.
Chavez is still coping with the reality of Thursday’s indictment.
"I was scared, I was mad, I was upset. I even cried at one point," Chavez said.
With no regrets that the abuse allegations came to light.
"We feel like we did nothing wrong. We feel like we did what we’re supposed to do," said Chavez.
Now that these are no longer felony cases, the Parker County Attorney’s Office will prosecute these misdemeanor cases, not the district attorney.
The Source: Information in this story came from educators with Millsap ISD and previous FOX 4 coverage.