Midland County Sheriff’s Workplace
5 officers at a non-public Christian academy in Texas are dealing with felony costs over accusations they didn't notify authorities after a ninth-grader reported being sexually assaulted by an older scholar throughout a hazing incident on “freshman initiation day.”
The three directors and two athletic coaches at Midland Christian Faculty are recognized in an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by The Day by day Beast as Superintendent Jared Owen Lee, secondary college Principal Dana Elizabeth Ellis, athletic director Gregory Neal McClendon, assistant secondary college principal Matthew David Counts, and baseball coach Barry Lee Russell.
“We're motivated in all aspects by our religion in Jesus Christ, making an attempt to function a mirrored image of God’s unconditional love for all individuals,” Midland Christian’s web site proclaims. “We search to honor the Lord in all that we do by working Midland Christian Faculty in a way in keeping with Biblical rules. You will need to us that each phrase and deed engaged in by Midland Christian Faculty, its staff, representatives, volunteers, and college students be in keeping with and in furtherance of Midland Christian Faculty’s spiritual functions: each publicly and privately.”
However the 5 college officers apparently didn't stay as much as these tenets following the alleged January assault, which was first uncovered by the Midland Reporter-Telegram.
On Jan. 28, a detective with the Midland Police Division was notified a few “doable sexual assault of a kid” that had occurred eight days earlier after baseball apply at Midland Christian.
In an interview with authorities, the unnamed sufferer mentioned he had simply stepped into the locker room to get modified when the lights had been turned off. Somebody mentioned it was “freshman initiation day,” and a Tenth-grader started hitting the ninth-grader.
The ninth-grader’s arms had been pinned down, and he was flipped over onto his again, the affidavit states. He was then sexually assaulted with a baseball bat as different college students appeared on and cheered, it says.
The following day, the freshman scholar advised college officers what had occurred. After which, nothing.
“The 2 of them see one another every single day as they're on the identical baseball crew,” the affidavit goes on.
On Feb. 11, police investigators confirmed up at Midland Christian and spoke with Ellis, the principal of the secondary college. She advised cops that she was conscious of the incident and that it had been documented. Nonetheless, Ellis mentioned Lee, the varsity superintendent, was the one one with entry to the information.
When Ellis advised Lee in regards to the horrific incident, Lee ordered McClendon and Counts to “conduct an ‘investigation’ into the incident as an alternative of notifying legislation enforcement or one other state company,” the affidavit explains.
However when Lee contacted police on Feb. 14, he refused to reply any questions or present the documentation to which Ellis had referred, demanding that cops get a search warrant.
The warrant was granted and executed the identical day.
In the course of the search, investigators got entry to “notes” written by McClendon and Counts that documented the incident, based on the affidavit.
In emails between all 5 that had been reviewed by police, “it was made very clear that a sexual assault had occurred, and the varsity had an obligation to report,” the affidavit continues, noting that “there have been a number of emails exchanged,” and that “a number of of the directors refused to report the incident.”
The 5 had been arrested Wednesday and launched on $5,000 bond. It's nonetheless unclear whether or not they have retained legal professionals to talk on their behalf.
On Thursday, police arrested a scholar concerned within the alleged assault, authorities introduced. No additional particulars have been launched, and the scholar, who's a juvenile, has not been recognized.
“Our faculty officers have, and can proceed to, cooperate with legislation enforcement and their investigation,” the president of Midland Christian’s board of trustees advised the Reporter-Telegram in an announcement. “Presently, now we have certified performing directors to oversee the campus, oversee scholar actions, help school, and preserve the day-to-day operation of the varsity. The bodily, religious, and emotional security of our college students is an important duty we bear as educators and one we take significantly. We admire the help and prayers of our Midland Christian mother and father, school, workers, and college students as we proceed main, constructing, and equipping for Christ.”
The allegations within the Midland Christian case are disturbingly just like these specified by a 2020 civil swimsuit filed by a scholar at a public college within the Midland suburb of Greenwood. Directors there stand accused of masking up repeated sexual assaults of a scholar athlete by his teammates, based on court docket filings reviewed by The Day by day Beast, which say the varsity not solely tried to comb the alleged assaults below the rug, however that it retaliated by “discontinuing a longstanding enterprise relationship” with the sufferer’s father. The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in September.