The lawsuit stems from alleged child abuse that led to the arrest of the district’s former superintendent and two former staff members.
MILLSAP, Texas — A North Texas school district faces a federal lawsuit over alleged child abuse that eventually led to the arrest of two faculty members and the district’s former superintendent.
Former Millsap ISD superintendent Edie Martin and two former educators — Jennifer Dale, 44, and Paxton Kendal Bean, 25 — were arrested in March after a video of a February incident showed educators allegedly abusing an autistic child in a classroom.
Martin faces a felony charge of failure to report/intent to conceal, Bean was charged with injury to a child/elderly/disabled and official oppression, and Dale was charged with official oppression.
Martin resigned as Millsap ISD’s superintendent after her arrest.
The new lawsuit, filed Tuesday, names Millsap ISD, Martin, Dale, Bean and the principal of Millsap Elementary School, where the alleged abuse happened, Roxie Carter, court documents show. Carter was not criminally charged.
Carissa Cornelius, the mother who shared allegations that her son, who has autism and is nonverbal, was verbally and physically abused by Millsap ISD staff on social media, sparking an investigation, is among the three Millsap ISD family members alleging abuse in the new lawsuit.
The video she shared in the post appears to show a staff member slapping at a student, though it’s unclear if the staff member made contact with the student before that staff member left the room. Another staff member on the video appeared to throw something at the same student.
Cornelius alleges in the lawsuit that an assistant at the time who recorded the alleged abuse contacted her and informed her about it.
“[Cornelius] was rightly appalled and took the matter straight to Martin and Carter, who’s only response was ‘we are investigating the matter,'” the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit alleges that Cornelius reported the incident to police, who informed her that the incident hadn’t been reported to them or the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, as required by law.
“Behind the closed doors of a seemingly ordinary school, a small group of vulnerable, non-verbal autistic children endured unimaginable abuse at the hands of adults entrusted to their care,” the lawsuit alleges. “The safety and wellbeing of the innocent children were never taken into account and allowed to proliferate by and through the people in power to put an end to the abhorrent physical abuse … of children under their care.”
The lawsuit alleges, among other things, assault, failure to train, failure to supervise, Americans With Disabilities Act violations, discrimination, and negligent discipline, and seeks damages in excess of $75,000, court documents show.
WFAA has reached out to Millsap ISD for comment on the lawsuit, but hasn’t heard back.