MIDLAND, Texas — Dana Ellis, Jared Lee and Matthew Counts were arrested and indicted at the Midland County Courthouse Thursday after a grand jury found them guilty for failure to report and attempt to conceal child abuse.
Matthew Counts' lawyer, Jeff Parras, said this is about an incident that happened a year ago.
"That involved a kid hitting another kid in the head with a bat," said Parras. "There were a number of kids in the classroom, half of them who saw it all said it was an accident, some that saw it said the boy with the bat actually apologized to the kid who got hit."
Parras said none of the three that were arrested witnessed the incident.
"They weren't present," said Parras. "They learned about it after the fact. Two of them weren't even at the school that day."
The student was seen by teachers, a nurse, their parents and personnel at a Midland medical clinic that day, according to Parras.
"You have to wonder what their motivation is, why they hand picked these particular three individuals and no one else when you have at least half a dozen to a dozen adults who are required to report, including the boy's parents and medical personnel," said Parras. "Nobody reports it. Because it's an accident, nobody should of had to report it, and yet they're claiming these three individuals had some duty to report."
We also received a statement from Midland Christian, which says in part:
"The charges brought against Matt, Jared, and Dana are false based on the facts as we know them and we stand in complete support of an aggressive defense of their innocence. The Board of Trustees has diligently worked through the proper channels to ensure that Matt is allowed to remain on our campus, serving in his role as an educator and coach, while he awaits due process."
This is all the information we currently have on the situation. Stay with NewsWest 9 as we learn more.