Former Huntsville school Superintendent Audra Kimball pleaded innocent on Thursday in Madison County District Court to a misdemeanor charge of failure to notify the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline when she heard about suspected child maltreatment.
The plea was entered through her attorney, W.H. Taylor of Fayetteville.
A trial date has been scheduled for Dec. 8, said Carmen Watkins, district court clerk.
The suspected crime took place on or about Feb. 9, 2021, according to the charging document.
Prosecuting Attorney Matt Durrett said he issued summonses in late September for Kimball and Kaleb Houston, the former Huntsville school basketball coach. Both have resigned from those jobs, but Kimball is still employed by the Huntsville School District as director of personnel and program compliance.
Durrett said Houston would be summoned to appear in court on Nov. 3.
Both Kimball and Houston face a charge of "Failure to notify by a mandated reporter in the first degree," under Arkansas Code Annotated § 12-18-201.
The accusations involve players on the Huntsville junior high basketball team, and the failure of Kimball and Houston to immediately report the accusations to the Child Abuse Hotline.
According to a "Title IX Sexual Harassment Determination of Responsibility" report completed after the school district's internal investigation, the accused players had placed their "genitals in the faces" of several eighth- and ninth-grade boys who were being restrained by other boys in the locker room after games. The practice -- called "baptism" -- occurred several times during the basketball season, as well as the previous year, according to the report.
Two boys admitted to "baptizing" other players, according to the report. Other boys were cited in the report as helping restrain the victims while they were being "baptized." Because they are underage and students, none of the boys' names were used in the report.
A federal lawsuit against the Huntsville School District included information about "bean-dipping," another activity alleged to be taking place in the locker rooms.
"'Baptism,' as the term is used in this Complaint, refers to the placing of one's genitals on the face and/or in the mouth of another student," according to the federal court filing. "'Bean-dipping,' as the term is used in this Complaint, refers to placing a student's rectum and anus on the face and particularly the nose of another student."