UPDATED October 24.
A Texas lawmaker is calling for the state to investigate “shocking reports” that a middle school coach in Celina Independent School District made illicit locker room recordings of undressed male students and accusations that district officials covered up the coach’s past predatory behavior.
State Rep. Jeff Leach (R–Allen) asked Attorney General Ken Paxton to open an outside criminal investigation of Celina ISD administrators’ actions leading up to this month’s arrest of Moore Middle School Coach Caleb Elliott on charges of invasive visual recording and possession of child sexual abuse material.
Celina ISD has since placed both Athletic Director/Head Football Coach Bill Elliott, who is Caleb Elliott’s father, and Moore Middle School Principal Allison Ginn on paid “non-disciplinary” administrative leave pending completion of the district’s own third-party investigation, “in an abundance of caution,” according to an October 24 letter sent to Paxton by Superintendent Tom Maglisceau.
Sources tell Texas Scorecard that the Celina Bobcats’ offensive coordinator Nathan Elliott—Bill Elliott’s older son and Caleb’s brother—will take over coaching the football team.
In his October 23 letter to Paxton, Leach wrote that “what remains unclear to me and which troubles me, as a policymaker and a parent, more than anything else is this:”
To what extent did Celina ISD administrators, coaches, and/or other individuals in positions of public trust have knowledge, either actual or constructive, of Mr. Elliott’s troubling behavior? And subsequently, to what extent did they fail to act promptly to fully comply with Texas law to protect students under their care?
A lawsuit filed this week by families of boys Elliott recorded alleges that school officials knew the coach preyed on male students in the past but deliberately covered it up—possibly to protect the legacy of Celina ISD’s famed football program.
Caleb Elliott is the son of longtime Celina ISD Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Bill Elliott.
The lawsuit describes Bill Elliott as “a Celina hero” and calls the Celina Bobcats football team “the lynchpin of the city.” The team won its state championship last year and is undefeated this season.
“We must ensure that not only the perpetrator is held accountable—but also any administrators, officials or others in positions of public trust who were required to act or to report what they knew and failed or refused to do so,” Leach posted to X.
All school officials are mandatory reporters of child abuse. Caleb Elliott was never reported to the Texas Education Agency for his alleged “improper relationship” with a male high school student or his earlier placement of cameras in the middle school boys’ locker room, despite his work assignments changing after each allegation.
Celina ISD officials in positions to know about and act on Caleb Elliott’s behavior include the elected board of trustees, Superintendent Tom Maglisceau, Moore Middle School Principal Allison Ginn, Moore Middle School Boys Athletic Coordinator Troy Davis, and Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Bill Elliott.
Leach stated that “a fully independent and outside criminal investigation” must be commenced in addition to the district’s internal investigation initiated by Superintendent Maglisceau.
Many Moore Middle School families have called on Celina ISD trustees to fully investigate and hold administrators accountable, while some high school football families—and Bill Elliott himself—have said that no one is responsible but Caleb Elliott.
“I believe it is imperative for the State of Texas to pursue its own investigation into its own political subdivision—the school district—to ensure Texas law was complied with and, if not, to hold accountable those individuals who were required to act and failed or refused to do so,” Leach added.
Celina police first arrested Caleb Elliott on October 3 for invasive visual recording in the Moore Middle School boys’ locker room. Elliott was arrested again on October 9 for possession of child sexual abuse material after police found nude images of multiple male student athletes on Elliott’s cellphone.
During a special school board meeting on October 16, Maglisceau announced that Elliott had resigned and “as a condition of accepting his resignation, the district facilitated the surrender of his teaching certificate with the Texas Education Agency.”
As of October 24, Elliott’s teaching certificate remains valid but is “under review” by the TEA. He is out of jail on $200,000 in bonds.
New state laws passed this year expand requirements for reporting educators who sexually abuse students and allow schools and individuals to be held civilly liable for failing to prevent or respond to abuse.
Previous reporting on the Celina ISD scandal:
- Celina ISD Coach Charged With Invasive Visual Recording of Middle Schoolers
- Celina ISD Middle School Coach Faces New Child Porn Charge
- Celina ISD Lets Coach Resign After Locker Room Recording Scandal
- Victims of Locker Room Recording Scandal Sue Celina ISD for Coverup
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