An appeals court rejected a Lorena Primary School principal’s claim that she is immune from liability in a civil lawsuit for failing to protect a pre-K student from a teacher’s sexual abuse.
On Friday, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Principal April Jewell’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the basis of “qualified immunity.”
Such immunity shields school officials from federal civil liability unless their conduct violates a clearly established constitutional right to an extent that “shocks the conscience.”
The decision is a win for local families seeking justice for a victim identified in court records as “Jane Doe.”
It’s also viewed as a win for all Texas families, affirming that school administrators cannot hide behind governmental immunity when they willfully turn a blind eye and fail to protect children from predatory adults.
Earlier this year, Texas eliminated school districts’ immunity from civil liability in sex abuse cases brought in state court.
Jewell is being sued by the parents of Jane, a then-5-year-old girl repeatedly sexually abused by her teacher, Nicolas Crenshaw, who later confessed to the crimes and is now in prison.
The court’s decision clears the way for the victim’s family to proceed with their 2023 civil suit against Jewell, who is still principal of the primary school.
The family alleges Jewell ignored multiple warnings from several staff members about Crenshaw’s behavior towards their daughter. Crenshaw continuously molested the girl in her classroom from October 2020 through May 2021.
Crenshaw confessed to victimizing at least one other girl in the pre-K class.
A third victim was revealed in 2024. That girl’s mother said she reported Crenshaw’s abuse to Jewell in October 2020—before he went on to molest two more students.
After Crenshaw’s arrest, Jane’s parents filed a grievance with Lorena ISD, asking how the abuse was allowed to continue after multiple reports of Crenshaw’s inappropriate behavior. They allege the district refused to conduct a Title IX investigation.
Friday’s unanimous opinion by a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court’s 2024 decision to deny Jewell’s qualified immunity claim after finding she failed in her duty to protect Jane.
The panel also affirmed the lower court’s finding of “conscience-shocking” executive action—or inaction—by Jewell.
The panel heard oral arguments in Jewell’s appeal on February 3.
The judges evaluated whether Jewell was entitled to qualified immunity based on the facts stated in the complaint. They determined she was not.
“The Plaintiffs allege that Jewell did not properly investigate, reprimand, or warn Crenshaw; inform Jane’s parents of the concerns and complaints made against him; or report Crenshaw’s misconduct to law enforcement,” wrote Judge Patrick Higginbotham in the court’s opinion.
“Plaintiffs further allege that Jewell disregarded numerous reports over the course of an entire school year of excessive physical and sexually-charged contact with and ‘favoritism’ of certain students.”
In fact, Higginbotham noted, “Jewell intervened in ways that increased Jane’s exposure to Crenshaw’s sexual predation and caused her to be molested repeatedly over an entire school year.”
“The danger to Doe and her pre-kindergarten classmates was obvious,” he added.
Judge James Ho penned a scathing concurring opinion.
“It should shock the conscience if a school principal’s extreme dereliction of duty predictably results in the sexual abuse of a five-year-old girl by a suspected pedophile on the faculty,” wrote Ho.
Ho stated that “if the allegations in this case are proven at trial, April Jewell was indeed deliberately indifferent to keeping a sexual predator on her school’s faculty. To put it simply, Jewell ignored an obvious risk of serious harm to a student in her care. And that’s enough to establish deliberate indifference under governing precedent.”
When told that a grown man was caught lying under a blanket with a young girl, Jewell reprimanded the staff member who spoke up. When informed that there were photos showing additional inappropriate behavior, Jewell scolded the classroom aide who took the photos and refused to look at them. When concerns grew, she brushed them off, telling her subordinates that “we can’t be picky” about who we entrust to care for young children. And she declined to report any of this to the child’s parents.
“This is a shocking betrayal of public trust in school administrators,” added Ho.
Lorena Independent School District is also a defendant in the lawsuit.
Superintendent Joe Kucera stated that the Fifth Circuit’s rejection of Jewell’s qualified immunity claim does not change Lorena ISD’s position regarding the suit against the district.
Kucera said Lorena ISD “denies that facts stated by the plaintiffs are true” and “looks forward to engaging in the discovery process and defending itself against the false claims.”
He added that any new “factual evidence” would result in the district taking “appropriate action.”
Ever since details of the scandal became public, community members have been calling for Jewell to be terminated or at least placed on leave until the lawsuit is resolved.
On Saturday, Lorena mom Jessica Montez updated a petition started last year calling for Jewell’s resignation or removal.
“A federal court believes her inaction may have violated a child’s rights,” wrote Montez. “And yet, Lorena ISD continues to keep her in charge of young children daily.”
Other local parents took to social media following the release of the Fifth Circuit’s opinion, calling for accountability from Lorena ISD and justice for Jane.
Lorena mom Ashley Moore said she supports the teachers who reported Crenshaw over the administrators who ignored them, and she is more concerned about abused children than uncomfortable adults, “especially when kids are crying because they have been sexually abused versus adults crying because they messed up.”
“Lorena is going to need a bigger rug to brush this under!” posted former Lorena Primary School teacher Cristie Thigpen.
Thigpen said district administrators and trustees ignored concerns about Jewell even as teachers were leaving the school “in droves”—including an entire pre-K team.
The case against Jewell and Lorena ISD will resume in federal district court.
The next regular Lorena ISD school board meeting is scheduled for August 25.
Previous Coverage of Lorena ISD Lawsuit:
- ’Qualified Immunity’ Arguments On Trial in Lorena ISD Sex Abuse Case (2-5-25)
- Sex Abuse Victim’s Mom Scorches Lorena ISD School Board (7-31-24)
- Lorena Parents Ask State Board to Suspend School Admins Over Sex Abuse Scandal (7-22-24)
- New Victim Revealed in Sex Abuse Lawsuit Against Lorena ISD (7-12-24)
- Lorena ISD Breaks Silence on Sex Abuse Lawsuit as School District Scandal Spills Into City Business (6-20-24)
- Lorena Parents Speak About Sex Abuse Scandal at School Board Meeting (6-20-24)
- Sex Abuse Lawsuit Against Lorena ISD Moves Forward (6-6-24)
- Judge Rejects Immunity Claim of Lorena ISD Principal Who Ignored Teacher’s Sexual Abuse of 5-year-old Student (5-31-24)
