Four administrators from Trinity School in Midland were arrested by Midland Police at 11 a.m. Friday on charges of failure to report with intent to conceal, neglect or abuse.
A news release from the City of Midland said the investigation is ongoing.
CBS7 reports on its website that according to Midland County Jail records, Trinity School administrators Todd Freese, Shelby Hammer, Chrystal Myers and Adrianne Clifton have been arrested and booked into Midland County Jail.
Freese is the Dean of Students, Clifton is the Director of Admissions and Assistant Head for Administration, Hammer is the Head of the School, and Meyers is the Head of the Middle School.
Clifton has a bond of $5,000. The website said she is the only one with a bond listed on the Midland County website.
Failure to report with the intent to conceal, neglect or abuse is a felony if proven, the website said.
According to an affidavit, the victim said she was sexually assaulted at the Trinity School from September to December 2019, CBS7 reported.
The affidavit says the victim’s friend told Freese what was happening on the date of the last incident in December 2019, the station reported.
The TV station reported that court documents said Freese did not report the sexual assault to a state agency which is a violation of the Texas Family Code.
According to state law, all school employees are required to report abuse or neglect to law enforcement, CPS, or another state agency within 48 hours of the event, the station reported.
Failure to report with the intent to conceal, neglect or abuse is a felony if proven, the station reported.
The affidavit explains the victim’s parents found out about the assault and set up meetings with school administrators. But none of the school administrators reported the assault, the station reported.
The victim’s parents removed her from school in 2020 and according to the arrest affidavit, in September Hammer sent the parents a confidential waiver and release of all claims. If parents signed the agreement, a portion of the tuition paid to the school would be returned to the family, the station reported.
In exchange, according to the court documents, the family would not pursue any legal litigation with the school and there would be no admission of liability or wrongdoing, CBS7 reported.
The parents did not sign the confidential waiver, CBS7 reported. The investigation is ongoing.
This follows the arrest last week of five administrators at Midland Christian School. They were charged with failing to report an incident with the intent to conceal, neglect or abuse.
CBS7 reported that the arrests included Superintendent Jared Lee, Principal of the Secondary School Dana Ellis, Vice Principal of the Secondary School Matthew Counts, Athletic Director Greg McClendon, and head baseball coach Barry Russell.
The court documents report the coaches and administrators knew about the sexual assault and were instructed to investigate on their own without contacting law enforcement.
