MIDLAND, Texas — Four Trinity School administrators have been indicted by a grand jury for failing to report with intent to conceal neglect or abuse, according to the Midland County District Clerk's Office.
Todd Freese, Shelby Hammer, Chrystal Myers and Adrianne Clifton were all charged in February of this year.
According to arrest affidavits obtained by NewsWest 9, a female student under the age of 14 was reportedly sexually assaulted multiple times going back as far as September 2019.
The victim told an interviewer at the Midland Children's Advocacy Center in February 2022 that she had been assaulted every other day for around four months while at the school.
After this incident, the student broke down and told a friend, who then reported the incident to the dean of Trinity, later identified as Freese, who said they would check the cameras.
The parents of the victim found out about everything and went to talk to Freese and Myers about the incident, which they said Freese downplayed to a "he said, she said situation."
Following all of the meetings where they were made aware of the assaults, the Midland Police Department says none of the four administrators ever reported the incident to authorities, a violation of the Texas Family Code.
In September 2020, Hammer sent out a waiver to the victim's parents that would settle the dispute about the assaults.
According to the affidavits, the waiver would allow the parents to "receive a portion of the tuition paid for the school year of 2020-2021" if they signed and avoided litigation or admission of liability or wrongdoing.
The parents reviewed the document and hired an attorney before ultimately deciding not to take away the victim's right to speak out about her assault.
The four were arrested following the victim's interview with MCAC in February 2022.
Following the indictment, Trinity released the following statement:
"Dear Trinity Community,
I am saddened and deeply disappointed to learn late today that the Grand Jury opted to move forward with charges against our four administrators. While I am stunned personally about the decisions made today, I look forward to the opportunity for due process. We continue to support our administrators, and I remain hopeful for a time in the near future where they can return to serving Trinity School’s highest priorities: the safeguarding of students, the delivery of our School’s Mission, and the preservation of Trinity School today and into the future."
NewsWest 9 contacted Daniel Hurley, attorney for Todd Freese.
"I know that Todd Freese looks forward to his day in court, where he can tell the Jury all the facts, not just a limited portion," said Hurley. "We’re pretty sure it’s not completely accurate, and there are many details that are left out. So we look forward to the day that we can tell the Jury the whole story and let a Jury decide whether these allegations are true or false."
"We communicated with the DA's office and provided several significant pieces of information to them upon their request, we gave information to the Children’s Protective Services investigators," said Hurley. "Everybody that requested information, we gave it to them."
Since the indictment, Frank Sellers, the attorney representing Chrystal Myers, has filed a motion for the court to afford her constitutional and statutory rights to an immediate and speedy trial.
A motion was also filed requesting the court allow Myers to present evidence of polygraph test results from a polygraph examination she took back in September 2022 that addressed the allegations.
We will continue to update this story as we receive more information. Stay with us here at NewsWest 9.