UPDATED July 10.
An elementary teacher in the Plano Independent School District has been charged with sexually abusing an 8-year-old student multiple times while at school.
Paul Edward Campbell, 64, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14, a first-degree felony punishable by 25 years to life in prison.
Campbell teaches 2nd grade at Brinker Elementary. Plano ISD parents say Campbell also staffed the district’s PASAR after-school program.
The Plano Police Department began investigating Campbell after an 8-year-old female student accused the teacher of “inappropriate physical contact” while at the school during the 2025-26 school year.
Police then obtained and executed a warrant for Campbell’s arrest.
According to the arrest affidavit, the girl first told her family about the abuse on July 4. She then told authorities Campbell had touched her and a friend’s vaginas several times in the classroom and possibly other girls.
She said when she would go to the teacher’s desk to ask questions, he would rub her “pee pee place” with his hand while he answered.
The girl’s friend was interviewed and told police the teacher touched her private parts “many times” in the classroom and during recess. In one incident, she said he “put his other hand in his front pants pocket and was playing with something.” She also said she saw Campbell abuse two other girls.
Campbell was booked into the Collin County Jail on July 9 and is being held without bond. A bond hearing is set for July 31.
He reportedly taught in Plano ISD for almost 30 years and has held a Texas teaching certificate since 1987. His certification is now under review by the Texas Education Agency.
Following Campbell’s arrest, Plano ISD trustees called a special board meeting for July 9 to vote on terminating the teacher’s term contract “for good cause.”
Trustees voted unanimously to send Campbell a notice of termination. Under state law, the teacher has 15 days to to request an administrative hearing to challenge his termination.
Plano ISD also stated that the district had reported the allegations to the Texas Education Agency and State Board for Educator Certification as required by law and is cooperating with the ongoing police investigation.
Anyone with additional information is urged to contact the Plano Police Special Victims Unit at 972-941-2044.
In the past few years, hundreds of Texas school employees have been accused of sex crimes involving students and other children, and thousands have been reported to the TEA for sexual misconduct.
The TEA’s Educator Misconduct Reporting Dashboard shows the agency is currently investigating more than 2,400 sexual misconduct complaints and opening an average of 260 new cases each month.
