NOTE: Rockwall mom Corey Booth submitted this commentary on behalf of herself and her husband Tim Booth, who believe their son was sexually abused by a pre-K teacher at Springer Elementary in Rockwall ISD.
This is our family’s response to the Rockwall Independent School District meeting held on August 14, 2024.
Please take a moment to scroll to 8 minutes and 40 seconds in the video from the Rockwall ISD board meeting (recorded by Codi Chinn) to hear directly from the Chief Human Resources Officer Joey Byrum.
During that meeting, Rockwall ISD board members and district representatives repeatedly stated that there was a “thorough investigation by four independent agencies” of my son’s outcry of sexual abuse by his teacher.
In summary, Ms. Byrum stated that on November 11, 2023, the school board was notified that the Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation had “ruled out” the allegations.
She then proceeded to say, “It was reasonable to conclude that the alleged abuse or neglect did not occur.”
We originally made a report to the Rockwall Police Department, which then kicked it back to the Rockwall Sheriff’s Department on November 1, 2023.
The CPS caseworker called me on November 2 to tell me that he “had to put eyes on my son” to take a picture of him to start the said “thorough investigation.”
I agreed. He met me, my son, and my daughter at my office in downtown Rockwall.
On November 1, after the forensic interview at the Rockwall Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC), my 4-year-old son shared that his teacher had assaulted him by penetration.
On November 2, I asked the CPS caseworker while he was in my office “putting eyes on our son,” if we could please have a SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) exam done. He said, “We don’t do that for boys!”
That same day, I reached out to the investigator for the sheriff’s office to request a SANE exam again—only to be told that she had to check with her sergeant and the district attorney’s office.
Just to be clear: based on the testimony of Ms. Joey Byrum and the letter below, CPS was able to determine that there was no sexual abuse in seven—yes, seven—business days, or a total of nine calendar days!
CPS was so “thorough” in the said “investigation” that they were able to notify the Rockwall ISD school board on Saturday, November 11, 2023, per Ms. Byrum’s statements on August 14, 2024.
Yet, see the highlights in the letter below:
CPS could not mail the letter until November 29, 2023, to let us the parents of the said victim know that CPS had closed the case.
In a remarkable—I am going to say it again, remarkable—nine calendar days, CPS was able to determine with complete certainty that nothing had occurred to our 4-year-old son. Yet it took 19—let me say it again, 19—days for CPS to mail a letter!
Please tell me what government agency you know can complete a “thorough investigation” in nine days.
Yet again, this same school district was notified that an investigation began and was over in less than nine days but didn’t maintain the video necessary to corroborate our 4-year-old son’s statement about the other student being hurt too, while they (two kids) were being held back at recess.
According to the district’s Director of Safety and Security Mike Hillman’s statements to the community and the board on August 14, 2024, Rockwall ISD only stores videos for 30-40 days, which he said far exceeds other districts in the Dallas area.
He spoke eloquently and confidently right before Ms. Joey Byrum explained how “thorough” all of these investigations were and that we should trust that Rockwall ISD does not take the safety of your children lightly.
Yet, not one of the four agencies thought this critical video was important enough to store on a thumb drive on November 1, when my husband and I were told it was actively being reviewed.
The investigator said, “I have good news for you. The Student Resource Officer at Springer Elementary School has been reviewing video footage and confirmed what looks to be your son and another little boy (who was named by my son ) were being held back, while the other students were being led out to recess in the hallway.” Please note, this is from a hallway camera.
If you watch the school board meeting starting at 5 minutes and 50 seconds, Mr. Hillman clearly states, “The day we receive the request to save video is important.” I strongly agree, Mr. Hillman.
He continues, “To be clear, any allegation that anyone associated with Rockwall ISD deleted any video and intentionally withheld or destroyed evidence requested by a subpoena would not be true.”
Mr. Hillman repeats the same statement, “requested by a subpoena would not be true.”
I have decided to share a screenshot of my texts with the sheriff’s department’s “thorough investigator.”
You may notice a few things:
1. The calendar from my son’s daily folder.
2. A request for the investigator to corroborate the dates from the calendar to the video she had already disclosed existed on November 1, 2024.
3. The “thorough investigator” responded, “We can definitely check those dates once we get the footage. Thank you for that.”
4. Lastly, the most important is the date—Friday, November 3, at 5:52 p.m.
Conveniently our “thorough” Child Protective Services (CPS), our “thorough” Rockwall Sheriff’s Department, our “thorough” District Attorney’s Office, our “thorough” Rockwall Children’s Advocacy Center, and last but not least our “thorough” Rockwall ISD conducted four remarkable “thorough investigations,” plus the district’s conclusion.
But, not one of them was able to get the subpoena to the district in time so that the videos could be saved.
Remember, CPS “Ruled Out” status of the alleged sexual abuse—that letter was signed, sealed, and delivered in nine days!
I am asking the Rockwall community to stand with my family and demand full transparency, not theater.
We, as the parents, request the following agencies—the Rockwall Children’s Advocacy Center, the Child Protective Services, the Rockwall Sheriff’s Department, the Rockwall District Attorney’s Office, and the Rockwall Independent School District—to provide the full sexual abuse complaint investigation files, including:
- The full forensic interview conducted on or about November 1, 2023, including the video recording of Corey Booth and Timothy Booth being debriefed on the outcome of the forensic interview, led by the Rockwall Sheriff’s Department investigator
- All witness statements
- All interviews
- The SANE report
- All conclusions
- All findings
- All reports
- All inter-department and intra-department written and oral communications
- All photos
- All videos
- All written and oral communications with state agencies
- All employee files gathered during the investigations
- All complaints received regarding the alleged teacher, and
- Any other documents or items considered in the agencies’ “thorough investigations.”
We are asking the community of Rockwall to demand transparency.
Stand with our family to help protect children, not the establishment!
This is not just about our family; it’s about all of our children and our community as a whole.
This is a commentary published with the author’s permission. If you wish to submit a commentary to Texas Scorecard, please submit your article to submission@texasscorecard.com.
