Conroe ISD
May, 2007
INCIDENT:
My son was a 7th grade student at McCullough Jr. High and was accused with two other boys of 2nd degree felony indecency with a child while riding on a school bus. A 14-year-old girl on the bus accused my 13 year old and two others of touching her, and holding her down while they groped her.
CISD RESPONSE:
My son was initially suspended for 3 days, and faced alternative school for 5 days. I appealed this punishment, and it was reduced to 3 days suspension (because it was already served), and 5 days ISS (in school suspension) based on the fact that the Principal reinvestigated the allegations and found that my son was not as involved as originally determined by the Assistant Principal.
The girl then pressed criminal charges against the boys, and as a result they were all expelled, and had to serve the remainder of the year (38 days) in JJAEP. They were banned from all campus activities. In addition to that, they were fingerprinted, and placed on probation. JJAEP is an alternative school in Conroe. My son was forced to shave his head, and attend this school from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. He dug holes outside with his bare hands, and then filled the holes again. He dug while it was raining, and in 90 degree heat. He was forced to eat his lunch standing up, and had 10 minutes in which to do it. He was verbally abused daily by the guards at this "school". There were no elective or upper level courses offered at this school, so he had to take a college level Spanish exam during the summer to make up for what he had missed.
OTHER:
The case against my son went to court, and as stated before he faced 2nd degree felony charges of indecency with a child. The district attorney tried to get us to plead out to a lesser charge to avoid a trial, because he soon discovered he had no case. The only witness who claimed my son did anything was the “alleged victim", who herself had an extensive history of trouble at the intermediate and junior high levels.
Eight other witnesses climbed into the witness stand to state they hadn't seen him do anything to the girl, and in fact he had moved away from her during the bus ride. The Assistant Principal took the stand, and was caught lying to the jury twice. He claimed the witnesses said they saw my son touch the "alleged victim’s" breast and genitalia. He had no written or recorded proof of this; he simply claimed to remember them saying that. Not one witness corroborated his story. Even the “alleged victim” claimed he only touched her breast, and she never told the Assistant Principal he touched her genitalia. The AP also claimed to have interviewed my son the day after the incident, and even pointed out on a seating chart where my son was supposed to have been sitting for the court to see. The only problem was, my son was on a plane to Colorado that day, and was NEVER interviewed by the Assistant Principal. The AP fabricated the entire case. He even encouraged other girls on the bus to press charges against the boys. When they stated that they hadn't been touched or bothered, he said, "It doesn't matter, what those boys did was wrong and they should be punished".
Needless to say, a jury of 6 adults found my son not guilty. They ate lunch and came to their conclusions in 40 minutes. Most of the jury hugged my son when they left the courtroom, and expressed their anger that our tax dollars and their time had been wasted in such a manner. The Principal and Assistant Principal were investigated by the school district for their roles in the case and supposedly were punished for their "negligence". The punishment was kept private, and they are both at their current positions today at McCullough Junior High: Pretty scary for anybody attending MCC.
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