Arlington charter school principal, teachers arrested in child abuse investigation
3 arrested in school child abuse investigation
Two teachers have been arrested on charges of inappropriate behavior and child grooming. The principal is accused of trying to cover it all up.
ARLINGTON, Texas - A principal and two former employees at Newman International Academy—a charter middle and high school in north Arlington—are facing criminal charges in an ongoing child abuse investigation.
Two teachers have been arrested on charges of inappropriate behavior and child grooming. The principal is accused of trying to cover it all up.
Investigators believe there may be more victims.
3 arrested in Arlington school child abuse case
A principal and two former teachers at Newman International Academy in Arlington are facing criminal charges following allegations of child grooming, inappropriate relations and evidence tampering.
Arrests and Charges
What we know:
Newman International Academy’s Gibbons Campus police arrested 52-year-old Ruel Barbee on Feb. 6.
Barbee, a teacher's aide at the charter school, was charged with an improper relationship with a student.
In a separate incident, 22-year-old Gabrielle Little was charged with child grooming, a third-degree felony. She turned herself in to police on Monday and was booked into the Tarrant County jail.
"When we started looking at that, we realized we had two separate incidents involving two different students and two different educators," explained Newman International Charter Academy Police Chief Matthew Antkowiak. "In the first case, it was a teacher's aide: Mr. Barbee. And the second case was Ms. Little, who was an assistant part-time coach with the girls’ basketball team."
Both Barbee and Little were fired after a week-long review of evidence.
Initial Outcry
What we know:
Authorities say two seventh-grade girls came forward with allegations on Feb. 6.
After speaking with the girls, the investigators immediately filed a warrant with a Tarrant County judge, Barbee was arrested the same day a few hours later. Little was arrested a few days later.
Chief Antkowiak would not reveal specific details of the allegations in an effort to shield the victims but delivered a broad scope of what led to arrest warrants.
"It’s a combination of statements from victims, statements from students, statements from other educators, physical evidence that we’ve obtained and statements from our suspects."
Principal's Involvement
Mugshot from Tarrant CO Jail records.
What we know:
Principal Richard Adams was arrested Thursday on multiple charges, including failure to report abuse, three counts of tampering with evidence and tampering with a witness.
Adams is accused of trying to cover up the allegations made against Barbee and Little.
He was booked into the Tarrant County jail on charges of:
- Tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony.
- Tampering with a witness, a third-degree felony.
- Failure to report abuse, a state jail felony.
"We had probable cause in three separate, very clear incidences where he participated in or directed the destruction of evidence," said Antkowiak.
District officials say Adams resigned while under investigation.
Other Educators Placed on Leave
What we know:
The school placed Adams, the campus athletic director, the head varsity girls’ basketball coach and an assistant football coach on administrative leave.
Adams resigned. Barbee and Little were fired.
The other educators will remain on leave until both the criminal and internal investigations are complete. They have not been charged.
What we don't know:
Police have not released further details about the allegations. They did reveal how long they believe the abuse had been going on for.
Investigation Expands
What's next:
The chief says there are likely additional victims connected to Barbee and Adams.
"We’ve collected tons of phones at this point," he said.
Antkowiak says the additional victims are not from Newman, although he wouldn’t detail why they would be connected to Newman’s former principal.
"But we do have credible information of additional victims, and we’re working with them," he said.
Barbee is also a local youth pastor. The chief says three churches connected to Barbee are being examined.
"I highly anticipate there will be other people charged, but they will not be employees of Newman," he said.
The police chief says his department is working with federal and state investigators, and some cases might extend outside of Texas. He says the three charged did not have any flags in their background checks prior to hiring.
Adams remains in the Tarrant County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
Barbee and Little were released from jail after each posting a $15,000 bond.
The investigation is ongoing.
What they're saying:
"We will not tolerate abuse or any action that attempts to cover up or hide it," said Newman International Academy Superintendent Dr. Sheba George. "We will root out any exploitation or abuse of our students. There is absolutely no excuse that could justify the actions of educators who do not care about the well-being of students or who hurt them."
Chief Antkowiak said while the arrests are troubling, they must be talked about.
"We’re saying that if you come to this school and you target our children or you fail to act and intervene, the legal consequences are going to be there for you," he said.
More about Newman Academy
Dig deeper:
Newman International Academy serves about 3,000 students in grades Pre-K-12 across seven campuses. It was established in 2010.
The small private school has its own police force, which is handling the investigation.
The Source: Information in this article comes from Tarrant County Jail records, school district officials and the Newman International Academy Police Department.