An Academy Independent School District maintenance employee is in jail following allegations that he sexually assaulted a student.
William Anthony Blackburn, 47, was arrested Monday and booked into the Bell County Jail on a charge of displaying harmful material to a minor, a Class A misdemeanor.
Jail records show a second charge is pending, and authorities say they are investigating alleged felonies. Bond has not yet been set.
A joint press release issued Monday by Academy ISD and the Bell County Sheriff’s Office stated that BCSO was notified on September 28 about an alleged sexual assault of a student by an Academy ISD employee.
According to the statement, the district had “placed the employee who is support staff (non-educator/coach) on administrative leave, where they will remain pending the outcome of the investigation.”
An update Tuesday from the Bell County Sheriff’s Office identified Blackburn as the alleged perpetrator and confirmed his arrest on a misdemeanor charge.
BCSO added that Blackburn is currently being investigated for felony offenses.
The sheriff’s office said its Criminal Investigations Division is handling the case and will present information to the Bell County District Attorney’s Office.
Anyone with information related to this investigation is encouraged to contact the Bell County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at 254-933-5435 or Bell County Crime Stoppers at 254-526-8477.
Blackburn was listed on the Academy ISD website as a maintenance and operations employee. He has since been removed from the district’s online staff directory.
Online government salary records show Blackburn has worked as a maintenance staffer for Academy ISD since 2020.
Academy ISD is a five-school district with about 1,800 students and 245 staff.
Blackburn is among hundreds of Texas school employees accused of sex crimes involving students and other children in just the past few years—including five other maintenance and custodial workers arrested this year.
Last week, Austin ISD custodial specialist Agustin Ibarra Lopez was arrested on a felony charge of indecency with a child.
In July, Gainesville ISD maintenance worker Hunter Jordan was charged with online solicitation of a minor, a felony.
In May, Little Elm ISD custodian Eric Landaverde was jailed for continuous sexual abuse of an elementary school student under the age of 14, a first-degree felony.
In March, Huntsville ISD maintenance worker James Randel Blasingime was arrested for an aggravated sexual assault of a child that allegedly occurred in 2018.
In February, Allen ISD contract custodian Jason Giuliani was charged with online solicitation of a minor, a felony.
Thousands of educator sexual misconduct complaints have been reported to the Texas Education Agency.
