MCKINNEY—During a press conference Wednesday morning, Republican State Rep. Mitch Little pressed for transparency in the investigation of Celina Independent School District for its alleged cover-up of Coach Caleb Elliott’s criminal predation of young boys. Little is expecting additional lawsuits against the district.
Little authored House Bill 4623, which took effect September 1. It was designed to hold school districts accountable for failing to protect students from sexual predators by eliminating districts’ “sovereign immunity” from civil liability in sex abuse cases. Before the passage of HB 4623, victims could file criminal charges but not civil lawsuits.
During the press conference, Little expressed that he had hoped HB 4623 would encourage school districts to root out sexual abuse but never imagined it would need to be applied immediately “in a school that’s so close to our hearts.”
Little practiced law in Collin County for over 20 years before taking office in January.
Celina is currently under criminal investigation by Attorney General Ken Paxton for claims that administrators suppressed Elliott’s past predatory behavior toward male students, enabling him to record undressed middle school boys in the locker room.
A separate lawsuit filed by the families of boys recorded by Elliott alleges that school officials knew of the past instances of the coach preying on male students but deliberately covered them 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.
Little highlighted what he described as a “sexual abuse crisis that’s going on in our public school systems in the state of Texas.”
“I say ‘crisis’ because almost every day we have a new story of a teacher, or a coach, or administrator preying upon our children,” he continued.
Little said the investigation of Celina ISD should determine whether administrators were grossly negligent or reckless in their continued employment of Elliott.
Celina ISD previously retained its own “independent” third-party attorney, Giana Ortiz, to investigate the matter, but her investigation is currently on hold, according to the latest information from the district.
Little contends the people of Celina should be asking, “Is this truly independent, and will we all get to see the results of this investigation, or is it privileged to the school board?”
“These families demand answers, and we need to know the names of the decision-makers who allowed this environment to exist,” said Little. “Who was supposed to be supervising this person that was banned from the locker room? Why was this person retained as a teacher or administrator in the school district system after attempting to install cameras at another school in a locker room?”
Little was accompanied by two attorneys who are involved in the upcoming lawsuits: Jack Walker and Quentin Brogdon.
Brogdon commended HB 4623 for giving “us—the lawyers representing the victims of this tragedy—a powerful new tool to get answers and accountability and hopefully to ensure this never ever happens again to an unsuspecting family, like the families in this tragedy.”
Brogdon shared that they are in the “infancy stages” of investigating and will wait to get more information before making specific accusations. He said they have already spoken to over a dozen families.
During questioning, Little reiterated calls for transparency.
“Everybody wants to know exactly what happened, who did it, and when it happened. And I think the people of Celina have the right to answers to those questions,” said Little.
“It’s very difficult to overstate the importance of believing our children when they make an outcry of abuse, or they report abuse from a teacher, a coach, or a student. And then we value those reports over the reputation, over the significance of a teacher, or a coach, or an administrator in a school system,” he continued.
When asked what he knows about the specifics and extent of Elliott’s actions, Little refrained from disclosing anything that could affect upcoming litigation, but said, “The bottom line is Celina should be giving you the answers to those questions. They should be giving all of us the answers to those questions.”
There were child protection advocates in attendance displaying signs with slogans such as “Don’t hurt the children” and “Stop the cover up.”
Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis is prosecuting the criminal case against Caleb Elliott.
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