Former Millsap ISD educators indicted in abuse of autistic student: prosecutor
A former Millsap ISD superintendent and three teachers were indicted Thursday on class A misdemeanor charges related to the abuse of an autistic student, Parker County District Attorney Jeff Swain said.
Former Superintendent Edie Martin and paraprofessionals Jami Riggs, Jeannie Bottorff and Shannon Krause were charged with failure to report child abuse by a professional, Swain said. A widely-circulated video from earlier this year shows a teacher attempting to slap a nonverbal autistic child in the face, yelling and throwing things at the child.
Riggs, Borttorff and Krause were paraprofessionals in the classroom at the time the abuse occurred, Swain said.
Martin was arrested shortly after the child’s mother posted the video to Facebook and investigators learned of additional instances of abuse, the Star-Telegram previously reported. Martin also faces a felony charge of failure to report with the intent to conceal.
The alleged abuse occurred on Feb. 18, but Martin did not tell the child’s mother about it until Feb. 28, the mother told the Star-Telegram. Even then, the mother said, Martin did not inform her that the incident involved her son.
“It is our position that Edie Martin is a dedicated administrator and educator,” Martin’s defense attorneys said in a statement. “She has been an advocate for children during her entire career for over 30 years. We look forward to defending this misdemeanor matter at trial.”
Another grand jury indicted Paxton Bean, who was also arrested in a related case, on charges of injury to a child. It stems from another case reported after the first one gained publicity, Swain said. Bean and another educator, Jennifer Dale, also face misdemeanor oppression charges in the initial case, Swain said. Those charges are currently being reviewed by the county attorney’s office and no charging decision has been made.
This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 7:19 PM.
