MIDLAND, Texas — It's been a long three months for the Midland Christian community. There are five educators and their families who know that better than anyone.
However, a grand jury no-billed MCS superintendent Jared Lee, principal Dana Ellis, assistant principal Matt Counts, former athletic director Greg McClendon and baseball coach Barry Russell.
Defense attorneys on this case said that the case itself was blown way out of proportion. They said that police left out critical information in the arrest affidavits that would have prevented this case from getting so far.
"This was something that just got blown way out of proportion, and so I think it's important to understand that these people did not believe that they did anything wrong and thought they were working the proper channels, were questioning the child to make sure that he was okay, and there was no observable impairment or change in his behavior or demeanor whatsoever," Frank Sellers, Jared Lee's defense attorney said.
It's been a long three months that have severely damaged each of the administrators' image.
"Mr. Counts would just like his life back," Jeff Parras, Matt Counts' defense attorney said. "He'd like to get back to work. He'd like to have his reputation back. That's difficult with these kind of charges. He'd never been in trouble with the law before."
So why the no bill decision? It comes down to what was in, or rather left out, of the arrest affidavit.
"In this case, there was a big difference in what the officer put in her affidavit and what was actually said in those interviews," Parras said. "During the process, we get to see discovery, we could see reports, we get to see the actual interviews that were conducted."
While there is a possibility that this case could come back before a grand jury if there is more evidence that needs to be presented, Sellers doesn't believe that will happen this time.
"There's not gonna be any more evidence," Sellers said. "The evidence in this case was overblown to begin with. The child saw a doctor. There is zero evidence of trauma. There was zero reason for these people to believe that there was a sexual assault, and so I believe this will be the conclusion of the criminal case for these folks."