A North Texas middle school teacher has been arrested and charged with sexual assault of a child after a previous incident at a different school district came to light.
David Goggins, who is currently employed with the Northwest Independent School District as a teacher at Pike Middle School, was arrested by the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department. He was booked into the Tarrant County Jail and his bond was set at $250,000. According to jail records, Goggins posted bond and was released.
The alleged incident took place at his former district, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD, while he was working at Marine Creek Middle School.
WFAA News obtained the arrest affidavit. The alleged victim told forensic officials with the Tarrant County non-profit organization Alliance for Children that she was in eighth grade at the time of the assault. The girl told officials that she had gone to retrieve a jacket her friend left in Goggins’ class. When she entered, Goggins was grading papers at his desk and began to make small talk with her about his newborn baby, being tired, and “needing to relieve some stress.”
The victim then claimed that Goggins pushed her onto a desk and began raping her for roughly 10 minutes. The affidavit states that the girl ran away, got on the bus, and went home, never telling anyone about the incident.
People investigating the matter verified the story with two classmates who knew the victim. Investigators also met and interviewed Goggins, who confirmed his employment with the school at the time of the alleged incident. However, Goggins “denied all allegations of sexual contact with the student or any kind of inappropriate relationship.”
The report was not made by the victim until this year—after Goggins had already moved away from the district and began to teach at Northwest ISD.
In a letter to Pike Middle School staff and families, Principal Tricia Lutkenhaus said that the matter does not involve a current or former Northwest ISD student and “Northwest ISD had no knowledge of the allegations at the time he was hired or while he was actively teaching in the district.”
After learning about the incident, the district placed Goggins on administrative leave and denied him access to Pike Middle School and all other district schools.
“Because of the ongoing nature of the police investigation and legal proceedings, we cannot provide further details at this time. Please know we take seriously any allegations of improper conduct between an employee and student, and we will take immediate action for the safety of students when such allegations are reported,” wrote Lutkenhaus.
EMS ISD also sent a letter—obtained by Texas Scorecard—to Marine Creek Middle School families about the allegations, saying that while Goggins has not worked with the district since the 2021-2022 school year, once they were made aware of the allegations they notified “officials in the school district where the employee now works.” The district “also notified Child Protective Services” and said EMS ISD police led the investigation and issued an arrest warrant for Goggins.
“Because of the ongoing nature of the police investigation and legal proceedings, we are unable to provide further details at this time. We can confirm that police are not seeking additional victims and that no reports of misconduct were received while the person was employed in EMS ISD,” wrote EMS ISD Police Chief Charles Ramirez.
Defense attorneys for Goggins released a statement saying they are conducting their own investigation into the matter.
“David and his family were shocked by his arrest and the accusations against him. He has an exemplary record as a teacher and is highly regarded by his students and colleagues who are equally baffled by these claims. We are conducting our own investigation in the hopes of uncovering the real motivation behind these allegations. We welcome the opportunity to defend David and would ask the public to withhold judgment until we have all the facts.”
State records show that Goggins’ teaching certificate is still valid and is not currently under review.
Texas Scorecard has exposed dozens of educators charged with sex crimes, with more being charged almost daily.
