A Bullard Independent School District custodian was jailed after allegedly trapping a young girl in a campus bathroom and making a sexually suggestive comment.
Bryan Alan Taylor, 31, was arrested and charged with unlawful restraint and attempted sexual performance by a child.
He was booked into the Anderson County Jail on October 22. Bond was set at $1 million.
Taylor worked at Bullard Intermediate School for about three months. The school serves 5th and 6th grade students, who are generally 10 to 12 years old.
The incident occurred on October 15, according to an arrest affidavit detailed in a report by CBS19 in Tyler.
The student told authorities that when she came out of a bathroom stall, the janitor offered her $200 and made an inappropriate suggestion. The girl told Taylor, “No, I don’t want to,” and he repeated his offer.
The girl again said “No” and asked Taylor if she could leave the bathroom. Taylor allegedly refused and blocked the door with his cleaning cart.
The student said she asked Taylor three more times before he finally unblocked the door and let her out, advising the girl not to tell anyone.
No one else was in the bathroom at the time, but school surveillance video showed the girl running out of the bathroom and Taylor pushing the cart away and leaving the building.
District officials stated that Taylor was hired in August after required background checks and was fired as soon as Bullard ISD police identified him as the suspect.
“Bullard ISD is following all required procedures to ensure safe learning environments for our students,” Interim Superintendent Jan Hill wrote in a notice to district families.
Hill stated that “the safety and well-being of all our students is always top priority for Bullard ISD, and it is our intent to be as transparent as possible regarding this matter.”
She said the Bullard ISD Police Department’s investigation is ongoing and that no further details will be released at this time “in order to protect the integrity of the investigation and the privacy of those involved.”
Hundreds of Texas school employees have been accused of sex crimes involving students and other children in just the past few years. Thousands of educator sexual misconduct complaints have been reported to the Texas Education Agency.
