A new lawsuit against Celina ISD alleges the superintendent and school administrators failed to report sexual misconduct allegations against a former middle school teacher to protect the football program's reputation.
Caleb Elliott, a former eighth-grade football coach at Moore Middle School, was arrested earlier this month after he allegedly recorded and watched students changing and bathing in the school locker room.
Celina ISD superintendent Thomas Maglisceau, Moore Middle School principal Allison Ginn and high school football coach Bill Elliott, Caleb Elliott's father, are accused of failing to report Caleb Elliott's actions and covering up prior misconduct in the new lawsuit according to a press release from the plaintiffs' law firm.
Celina ISD has hired a third-party investigator according to a letter sent to parents shared with KERA.
“The District has demonstrated its commitment to aggressively pursuing resolution of the allegations and actions necessary for the well-being of our students,” Maglisceau said in the letter.
The third-party investigator, attorney Giana Ortiz, has placed Ginn and Bill Elliott on administrative leave.
Bill Elliott said at a recent Celina ISD school board meeting that he loves his son, but his son will faces the consequences of his actions.
"One person is to blame for all of this, one person," Elliott said. "He made a bad decision, a bad choice, and he's in a dark, dark place. And he will serve the justice that will be served to him ."
The lawsuits against Celina ISD are possible under a new state law that went into effect Sep. 1. It allows school districts to be held liable for sexual misconduct involving employees and students.
Before the new law, the victims' families wouldn't have been able to sue the school district because of governmental immunity.
“For more than half a century, school administrators in Texas operated with near-total immunity,” said Brad Beckworth, Managing Partner at Nix Patterson, the law firm that filed the latest lawsuit. “Even when they knew about abuse, even when they covered it up, even when they moved predators from school to school, they faced no personal consequences. That era is over. This lawsuit announces to every school administrator in Texas: if you cover up child abuse, you can be held accountable.”
Caleb Elliott was on the football coaching staff at the high school before working the middle school. Another lawsuit filed earlier this week accuses the school district of moving Elliott to the middle school after he had an inappropriate relationship with a student while working at the high school.
KERA reached out to Elliott and his attorney in the lawsuit, but had not received a response before this story was published.
Attorney General Ken Paxton recently announced on social media his office is investigating the allegations against Elliott.
Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
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