OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Charges filed


File these developments under better late than never.

Some 19 months after a school investigation began into Huntsville junior high basketball players being sexually abused by older teammates in the locker room, the prosecutor has issued summons to former superintendent Audra Kimball, now the school's compliance coordinator, and former basketball coach Kaleb Houston to face first-degree misdemeanor charges for failing to report the assaults as mandated.

The charges were filed after Fort Smith Attorney Joey McCutchen, who represents victims and their families in the matter, requested a legislative audit of the Arkansas State Police investigative unit.

Initial appearances in the case are tentatively set for Thursday in Madison County District Court. Fourth District Prosecutor Matt Durrett told the Madison County Record that other summons and citations may be forthcoming; Principal Roxanne Enix and Athletic Director Tom McCollough remain under investigation.

Ellen Kreth's weekly paper has earned national recognition for its role in exposing the story and keeping it alive.

Under the Title IX program, mandated reporters of suspected student abuse (teachers, administrators, coaches) are legally required to report them to the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline.

The Huntsville Board of Education in July admitted liability in the case underway since February 2021. The action involved allegations by male Huntsville Junior High School students that older basketball players had restrained younger teammates while other players placed their genitals on or in their faces.

A settlement request was filed by McCutchen in the fall of 2021. A federal judge approved the settlement on Sept. 7, 2022, in the amount of $1, and the acknowledgement of liability.

McCutchen, who represents Becky Nelle, a parent on behalf of her son, says the agreement meant Huntsville District administration admitted to the violations, since they knew students were being sexually assaulted and did nothing about it under the guidelines.

McCutchen summarized the meaning behind Title IX and such abuses going unreported: "There's nothing more important than the safety of our children and of our students."

He said Durrett's latest action sends a very strong message across Arkansas that those in supervisory and teaching positions mandated to report abuses should take their jobs very seriously. Then, when those acts are reported, the state needs to fully investigate the allegations.

Those of us from smaller towns with so many interlocking family and friend connections know that when such scandals arise, there can be a strong desire for powers that be to deal with them quietly. There can be friends to favor and a tendency to follow that path. But in this era under Title IX, the reporting laws are clear, as embarrassing as it might be to lose control of the information.

In the Record, Kreth wrote that, when asked about the allegations in June, Madison County Sheriff Rick Evans told the paper, "The school's handling it."

"After The Record published reports of the allegations on June 10, the sheriff's office reversed course and began investigating," Kreth writes. "In an email exchange on June 21 with [attorney Charles] Harwell, Kimball stated that the sheriff's office had requested documents from the Title IX investigation. 'The sheriff explained to me that the heat is now on them,' Kimball wrote. 'I reminded him that the [school resource officer] has known about the situation all along.'"

Durrett, who received a parent's criminal complaint against the administrators and coach on Oct. 22, 2021, initially closed the case in April. But after meeting with a family and learning new information, Kreth wrote, he reopened the case and began investigating further, leading to this latest action. Good for Durrett for realizing just how significant this mess is and reversing course.

Six new school board members were elected to the seven-member Huntsville School Board this summer in what most can agree was a badly needed house cleaning.

Kreth said one of the first actions on which the new board voted was to accept liability for knowing about the assault allegations but taking no action to prevent or stop the abuse. Sounds like integrity to me. Good for them as well.

I wonder how many people in and around Huntsville realize the vital role their courageous newspaper played (and make no mistake, it required a lot of courage), taking on this controversy in such an assertive and fair manner and seeing it through to a proper and honorable conclusion.

I understand Kreth and her determination to bring hidden truths into the light in the public interest simply because it's the right thing and beneficial to readers to practice journalism as the First Amendment intended in our smaller communities.

For that, the good people of Huntsville owe her a debt of gratitude and respect.

Now go out into the world and treat everyone you meet exactly like you want them to treat you.


Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master's journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.


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