Court documents shed light on City View ISD arrests

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - Several current and previous City View ISD administration officials turned themselves in at the Wichita County Jail on Wednesday.

The arrests include Superintendent Tony Bushong, Assistant Superintendent Carrie Allen, former Junior/Senior High School Principal Daryl Frazier, Athletic Director Rudy Hawkins, and Counselor Cindy Leaverton.

All five people were charged with professional failure to make a required child abuse report, with bonds set at $20,000 apiece. Court documents have shed more light on their arrests.

Court documents state the investigation “focuses on the persistent failures to report sexual misconduct by administrators at City View ISD of multiple incidents over an 8-year span.” The investigation reportedly revealed that no reports of sexual misconduct by a City View ISD teacher/coach were ever submitted to law enforcement by school district administrators.

An affidavit states it appears the administrators’ “persistent failure” to make the legally required reports of information they possessed about possible sexual misconduct enabled the teacher/coach to remain employed by the district and have continued access to students from 2014 to 2022.

Sexual assault allegations were made by former City View students toward a teacher and coach who committed suicide in June of 2022.

On June 30, 2022, officers were reportedly made aware of a failure to report case, which stemmed from a meeting that happened on June 27, 2022. The meeting was held to address the claims made by former students on social media about sexual misconduct between a teacher/coach and several female students. Investigators received documentation that the teacher had been suspended, and then reportedly interviewed 25 people who were believed to have knowledge of the incidents.

READ: City View ISD releases statement on arrests

The investigation revealed four different incidents of sexual misconduct between the teacher/coach with four female students over the span of eight years, according to court documents. Of the four incidents, two reportedly came to the attention of school officials around the time of the 2014-2015 school year and the 2017-2018 school year. In both incidents, a friend of the victims reached out to school officials about the allegations. Court documents state two other incidents were brought to the attention of school officials by the victims themselves during the 2018 school year.

No reports to law enforcement were ever made following City View ISD’s investigation into the incidents, according to an arrest affidavit.

An administration leave letter dated for Jan. 5, 2015, was reportedly signed by the teacher under investigation, as well as Leaverton and Hawkins. This letter states the first meeting happened on Dec. 30, 2014.

In an interview with Bushong, he reportedly confirmed to investigators that he and two school officials interviewed the student who was a friend of the victims. According to court documents, Bushong gave investigators hand-written notes from the interview that were dated for May 17, 2018. The documents reportedly said the interview involved specific language referring to sexual acts. Court documents state Frazier and Allen were the two other school officials present at this interview.

Bushong then told investigators he and a school official traveled to a Wichita Falls ISD high school to speak with one of the victims. A date for this meeting was not noted in the arrest affidavit. During this interview, Bushong reportedly said the victim denied having an improper relationship with the teacher/coach. Bushong allegedly stated nothing more was done since the allegations were unfounded. The teacher/coach was then put on administrative leave for the second time, with the letter dated for June 27, 2022.

According to court documents, Bushong told investigators “at that time he was a new superintendent and did not know he had to put all of that in writing.” He reportedly said there was no letter nor written documentation of what happened other than the handwritten notes.

In 2022, detectives spoke with two additional female victims. They told police they had reported sexual misconduct against the same teacher/coach in 2018, and the school officials at the time failed to do anything. Both victims allegedly named Bushong as one of the school officials they talked to about the allegations.

All five suspects bonded out of the Wichita County Jail on Wednesday.

Warrants have been issued for two more City View ISD staff members, according to the Wichita Falls Police Department. WFPD officials said these staff members have not turned themselves in yet.

“The DA’s Office has worked closely with the Wichita Falls Police Department since last summer on the City View disclosures,” District Attorney John Gillespie said in a statement. “We appreciate the WFPD’s diligent and thorough investigations. We will be filing the charging instruments promptly, and will aggressively prosecute these cases.”

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