{"id":397512,"date":"2026-08-04T16:02:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T16:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/397512\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T16:02:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T16:02:37","slug":"parents-sue-plano-isd-for-teachers-sexual-abuse-of-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/397512\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents Sue Plano ISD for Teacher\u2019s Sexual Abuse of Student"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A new lawsuit accuses Plano ISD of failing to report sexual misconduct allegations against teacher Paul Campbell, enabling him to repeatedly molest an 8-year-old girl while she was a student in his Brinker Elementary classroom.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/texasscorecard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/PLANO-ISD-LAWSUIT-Campbell-Original-Petition-7-30-26.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">lawsuit<\/a>, filed July 30 by the girl\u2019s parents, names Campbell, Plano Independent School District, and Brinker Elementary Principal Jennifer King as defendants.<\/p>\n<p>Campbell, 64, has been <a href=\"https:\/\/texasscorecard.com\/local\/plano-isd-teacher-faces-new-child-sex-abuse-charges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">charged with four felony sex crimes<\/a> involving multiple students during two school years.<\/p>\n<p>The parents allege King failed to investigate or report complaints about Campbell\u2019s classroom behavior, allowing the teacher \u201cunfettered access\u201d to sexually abuse more female students, including their daughter, who is referred to as Janie Doe to protect her identity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn order to combat the pervasive teacher-student sexual assaults in public schools, we must look beyond the perpetrator teachers and hold accountable school administrators and public school districts,\u201d the Doe family\u2019s attorney Zeke Fortenberry states in the petition.<\/p>\n<p>Civil Claims<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit accuses Campbell of continuously sexually abusing Janie Doe throughout the 2025-26 school year, touching her \u201cgenitals and bottom with his hand on numerous occasions\u201d while she stood by his desk or the \u201cteacher\u2019s table\u201d in his 2nd-grade classroom.<\/p>\n<p>Principal King and Plano ISD are accused of gross negligence for failing to take any preventative measures to protect Janie and other girls from Campbell\u2019s suspected sexual abuse.<\/p>\n<p>King is also accused of failure to report.<\/p>\n<p>According to the petition, prior to Campbell\u2019s alleged abuse of Janie, a Brinker Elementary parent complained to King about Campbell inappropriately touching a girl in his class.<\/p>\n<p>King also allegedly received a request for another girl to transfer out of Campbell\u2019s class during the same time he is accused of abusing Janie. King denied the transfer.<\/p>\n<p>After each incident, King failed to investigate Campbell\u2019s behavior or provide additional supervision, and she failed to report the sexual misconduct allegation to law enforcement or the State Board for Educator Certification as required by <a href=\"https:\/\/statutes.capitol.texas.gov\/?tab=1&amp;code=ED&amp;chapter=ED.22A&amp;artSec=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, King allowed Campbell to keep teaching at Brinker Elementary, placing him \u201cin a position of authority over second-grade students as a teacher where he could have unfettered access to girls\u201d\u2014including Janie Doe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJane and John Doe trusted Defendant Plano ISD and Defendant King to provide a safe, nurturing environment, in loco parentis, and to staff teachers who were good role models and mentors not sexual predators,\u201d the lawsuit states.<\/p>\n<p>The Does are seeking monetary relief, including actual and exemplary <a href=\"https:\/\/statutes.capitol.texas.gov\/?tab=1&amp;code=CP&amp;chapter=CP.41&amp;artSec=41.001\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">damages<\/a>, in an amount to be determined by a jury.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit was filed in a state district court in Collin County.<\/p>\n<p>Sex abuse victims are able to sue school districts in state court thanks to legislation passed in 2025 as <a href=\"https:\/\/capitol.texas.gov\/BillLookup\/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&amp;Bill=HB4623\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">House Bill 4623<\/a> that abolishes Texas public school districts\u2019 immunity when they are \u201cgrossly negligent, reckless, or engage in intentional misconduct in hiring, supervising, or employing a professional school employee\u201d who sexually assaults children.<\/p>\n<p>According to the petition, Plano ISD and Principal King\u2019s alleged failure to act on the complaints against Campbell is precisely the type of case the law was designed to address.<\/p>\n<p>The petition states that the district placed King on a leave of absence on July 14. Plano ISD has not yet responded to a request to confirm King\u2019s status or comment on the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>Criminal Charges<\/p>\n<p>Campbell was <a href=\"https:\/\/texasscorecard.com\/local\/plano-isd-teacher-charged-with-sexually-abusing-student\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">arrested July 8<\/a> on a charge of <a href=\"https:\/\/statutes.capitol.texas.gov\/?tab=1&amp;code=PE&amp;chapter=PE.21&amp;artSec=21.02\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">continuous sexual abuse<\/a> of a child under the age of 14, a first-degree felony punishable by 25 years to life in prison.<\/p>\n<p>While still in custody, he was <a href=\"https:\/\/texasscorecard.com\/local\/plano-isd-teacher-faces-new-child-sex-abuse-charges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">charged on July 27<\/a> with three counts of <a href=\"https:\/\/statutes.capitol.texas.gov\/?tab=1&amp;code=PE&amp;chapter=PE.21&amp;artSec=21.11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">indecency with a child<\/a> by sexual contact, a second-degree felony, involving other students.<\/p>\n<p>Campbell has been held in the Collin County Jail without bail since July 9.<\/p>\n<p>In a writ hearing on July 31, Judge Jennifer Edgeworth set bond at $2.5 million\u2014$1 million for the first-degree felony charge and $500,000 for each of the three second-degree felonies.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutor Ashleigh Woodall called Campbell a \u201cserial predator\u201d who used his position of authority to prey on 8-year-old girls. Woodall noted Campbell was entitled to bond but said the seriousness of his alleged crimes justified a high amount. Edgeworth agreed.<\/p>\n<p>Edgeworth also set a number of <a href=\"https:\/\/texasscorecard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Plano-ISD-Campbell-bond-conditions-scaled.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">bond conditions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Plano Police Department is still actively investigating Campbell. Anyone with information is asked to call their Special Victims Unit tip line at 972\u2011941\u20112044.<\/p>\n<p>Campbell has held a Texas <a href=\"https:\/\/texasscorecard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/PLANO-ISD-LAWSUIT-Campbell-Original-Petition-7-30-26.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">teaching certificate<\/a> since 1987. His certification is under review by the Texas Education Agency.<\/p>\n<p>He worked in Plano ISD for almost 30 years and previously taught in Houston ISD.<\/p>\n<p>In the past few years, hundreds of Texas school employees have been <a href=\"https:\/\/texasscorecard.com\/tag\/bad-apples\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">accused of sex crimes<\/a> involving students and other children, and thousands have been <a href=\"https:\/\/texased911.com\/misconduct.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">reported to the TEA<\/a> for sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Texas Scorecard\u00a0maintains a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/texasscorecard.com\/educator-sexual-misconduct-map\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">map<\/a>\u00a0of known educator sexual misconduct arrests.<\/p>\n<p>At least a dozen Texas school districts are currently facing state or federal lawsuits for enabling their employees\u2019 sexual abuse of students.<\/p>\n<p>                    <img alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/erin-writer-150x150.jpg\" class=\"avatar avatar-150 photo\" height=\"150\" width=\"150\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>                <\/p>\n<p>\n                        Erin Anderson is a Senior Journalist for Texas Scorecard, reporting on state and local issues, events, and government actions that impact people in communities throughout Texas and the DFW Metroplex. A native Texan, Erin grew up in the Houston area and now lives in Collin County.                    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new lawsuit accuses Plano ISD of failing to report sexual misconduct allegations against teacher Paul Campbell, enabling&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[127763,160,162,161,1563],"class_list":["post-397512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-bad-apples","tag-plano","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news","tag-public-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}