North Texas superintendent and 2 teachers arrested in abuse of 3 special-needs students
The superintendent of the Millsap school district and two educators were arrested Thursday after the teachers were caught on video abusing a special-needs student and investigators learned of additional cases of abuse, the Parker County Sheriff’s Office said.
The first student’s mother shared the abuse allegations in a video posted to Facebook on March 10, the Star-Telegram previously reported. The video shows a special education teacher at Millsap Elementary School attempting to slap the 10-year-old boy across the face and a teacher’s aide throwing a toy spoon at him, according to the parent and investigators.
The superintendent, 53-year-old Edie Martin, faces a felony charge of failure to report with the intent to conceal. The 10-year-old child’s mother, Carissa Kozak Cornelius, told the Star-Telegram that the incident in her son Alex’s classroom happened on Feb. 18, but Martin didn’t notify her until Feb. 28 and even then didn’t tell her that the incident involved her son. The mother later obtained the video recorded by a teaching assistant, she said.
One of the educators, 44-year-old teacher Jennifer Dale, is charged with official oppression, a Class A misdemeanor, according to the Parker County Sheriff’s Office. The other educator, 25-year-old teacher’s aide Paxton Bean, is charged with official oppression and injury to a child with intentional bodily injury, a third-degree felony.
Jail records show that all three women were released on bond.
A school board meeting was held Friday morning, March 21 to consider a “separation agreement” with the superintendent, according to an agenda on the school district’s website. The board heard comments from many upset parents and other members of the community but did not reach a decision on Martin’s contract. Another meeting will be held Monday night.
The district has said that the other educators involved were placed on leave during the investigation and are no longer employed by Millsap ISD. Millsap is a small North Texas town about 15 miles west of Weatherford.
According to arrest warrant affidavits obtained by the Star-Telegram, Bean and Paxton are accused of abusing two additional students. The documents also give more details regarding the alleged abuse of Cornelius’ son Alex, referred to in the warrants as MV1.
The 10-year-old has autism and is nonverbal. Investigators learned that Dale and Bean had placed Alex in extensive timeouts that could last up to 40 minutes, according to the affidavits. They are also accused of taunting him for two days in a row to the extent that the child was seen covering his ears and rocking back and forth in anxiety.
Another time, witnesses said Alex was rushed into getting ready to go home for the day and then locked outside the classroom after he put his backpack on. Bean could be heard laughing at him from inside the classroom, the affidavits state.
During an interview with Sheriff’s Office investigators, Dale acknowledged that she was seen on video swinging her hand at Alex, but she said that she did so “playfully,” according to the affidavits. Dale also admitted to making crying noises at the 10-year-old and possibly calling him a “crybaby,” but she said that also was intended to be playful, the documents state.
Whitney Price, the mother of an 8-year-old boy identified as MV2 in the affidavits, told police her son reported being hit by Bean. On Jan. 16, school staff told her the boy had gotten a bloody nose from running into a wall when Bean took him to a “calm down” room, according to the affidavits. When Price asked her son, who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, what happened, he said Bean punched him in the nose.
Police reviewed the school nurse’s log, and saw that Bean had taken the boy to the nurse on Jan. 16 with a “gushing nosebleed,” according to the affidavits. Bean reported to the nurse that the 8-year-old had hit his nose either on a wall or on her arm while throwing a fit. She said she wasn’t sure which.
The boy was asked by investigators during a March 12 interview about the nosebleed and if he’d ever been hurt at school. He said “yes” and when asked by whom, he said “Ms. Bean,” the affidavits state. Two witnesses also reported that Bean and Dale had given the 8-year-old timeouts lasting anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes. Another child also reported seeing Bean pulling the boy by his ear.
Bean declined to make a statement to the sheriff’s investigators on the advice of her attorney, according to the affidavits.
Victoria Garcia, who spoke at Friday’s board meeting, said that the third victim was her 6-year-old daughter Trinity. She’s identified as MV3 in the affidavits.
A teacher’s aide reported seeing Dale tell the little girl she wanted to “put her hands around the child’s neck and squeeze,” the affidavits state. The aide also said she heard Dale call the 6-year-old a vulgar name.
A witness who recorded the abuse on a cellphone told Sheriff’s Office investigators that she reported the abuse to Superintendent Martin on Feb. 19.
According to her arrest warrant, Martin contacted a law firm that represents the school district and asked the lawyers to begin an external investigation, but she did not report the suspected abuse to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services or the Parker County Sheriff’s Office as required by state law. Investigators said they learned that Martin filed a report with the Texas Education Agency on Feb. 28 regarding one of the educators and she reported allegations involving the second educator to the TEA on March 3.
Texas state law requires that suspected abuse be reported within 48 hours.
Martin told a witness and investigators that she made reports to Child Protective Services and law enforcement, but investigators said the superintendent never filed those reports, according to the affidavit. The Sheriff’s Office said it was initially made aware of the allegations on March 4, when a parent of one of the victims made a report.
Cornelius told the Star-Telegram that her first contact with law enforcement was when she reached out herself to the Parker County Sheriff’s Office and Child Protective Services once she obtained the video and learned more about what happened with her son. Cornelius said that the superintendent later informed her of other prior incidents including her son getting a shower without her permission, getting called vulgar names by staff and teachers, and receiving other inappropriate comments.
She pulled her son out of the school and said she plans to homeschool him.
In a statement about the arrests, Texas Rep. Mike Olcott said that Parker County Sheriff Russ Authier informed him there are three victims in the case.
“I am especially disturbed that these individuals who were hired specifically to care for students in the special education program would subject such vulnerable children to this type of abuse,” Olcott said. “... I expect the Board to fully consider what took place and discover if any other faculty members participated in or attempted to cover up the abuse that took place. Moreover, if the teachers are convicted of abusing these children, they should never be permitted to teach in a school again.”
This story was originally published March 20, 2025 at 10:29 PM.
