Three staffers at an Arlington charter school are facing felony charges in an ongoing investigation into allegations of child grooming and an improper relationship with at least two students.
Police and school administrators with the Newman International Academy held a news conference Thursday to address the ongoing investigation at the Gibbins campus, a 7th-12th grade campus in North Arlington, where two educators and a principal have been accused of felony sexual abuse crimes.
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WATCH HERE"Like many of the teachers and students here, we're broken over what's happened," said Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Schools Donna Hart, who announced leadership changes at the campus before addressing the investigation led by the school's police department.
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SIGN UP Chief of Police Matthew Antkowiak said Thursday, two 7th-grade girls courageously approached a police officer to report something they said didn't seem right. Antkowiak didn't elaborate on the report but said his department took action and that they had taken 53-year-old instructional aide Ruel Barbee into custody early that afternoon.
"That happened at 9:30 in the morning, and at 1 p.m. that afternoon, we had a probable cause warrant issued by a district judge, and he was in Tarrant County Jail," Antkowiak said. "I want to be clear on this. The speed on this incident, the suspect was in jail five hours after the outcry."
Barbee was arrested on Feb. 6 and charged with improper relationship between an educator and a student, a second-degree felony. After a week-long investigation into the Barbee case, where they said they spoke with teachers and students and obtained physical evidence, NIA police said they arrested a second educator and a principal.
- On Feb. 10, NIA police said they arrested 20-year-old Gabrielle Little, who surrendered at the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office on a felony charge of child grooming. According to jail records, Little is free after posting a $15,000 bond.
- On Feb. 12, NIA police said Gibbins campus principal Rick Adams had been arrested and charged with five counts of tampering with evidence, tampering with a witness, and failure to report abuse, all felonies. Tarrant County Jail records show Adams was released Thursday after posting bonds totaling $50,000.
NIA police, which has its own department of about 20 officers, said Barbee and Little were immediately terminated. Adams was initially on administrative leave with pay, but school officials said he resigned during the investigation. It's unclear if any of the accused educators have obtained attorneys to speak on their behalf.
Antkowiak said the background checks for Barbee, Little, and Adams didn't reveal any history of trouble but hinted there may have been previous investigations.
"These individuals had nothing in their background to lead us to believe that they even committed an offense," Antkowiak said. "What I know, not what I'm speculating, ma'am, is that we have come to knowledge of incidents at other institutions in DFW where they failed to take action when we know that they were aware of what occurred on their grounds, by their employee, that they allowed to resign while under investigation. Not acceptable."
Hart said in addition to those arrested, an athletic director, a girl's basketball coach, and a part-time assistant football coach have been placed on paid leave pending the outcome of both criminal and administrative investigations.
Anyone with additional information regarding the investigation is asked to contact the Newman International Academy Police Department at 682-207-5176 or police@niadps.org.
Arrest warrants outline allegations against charter school principal
NBC 5 obtained five arrest warrant affidavits for Richard Adams on Friday. In the documents, Newman Department of Public Safety Chief Matthew Antkowiak said Adams, when he was principal of the Newman International Academy Gibbins campus, knowingly deleted or destroyed email from his school email accounts between himself and Barbee and that he ordered a student to delete something from the student's phone that was evidence in the ongoing case.
Antkowiak also said he believes Adams had personal knowledge of two separate instances of improper relationships between a student and an educator on the campus and that Adams tried to conceal or destroy evidence of those relationships. He also said Adams was made aware of possible sexual contact between the educator and student and failed to report that within 48 hours, as required by law.
In the arresting document, Antkowiak alleged Adams violated the terms of his suspension by communicating with victims or witnesses through text messages and said Adams allowed Barbee's wife and her friend to come to the school on Saturday, Feb. 8, two days after he had been arrested, to retrieve all personal property from his classroom while the investigation was ongoing.
Hurst church terminates youth pastor after arrest
Oasis Community Worship Center in Haltom City confirmed JR Barbee was a youth pastor at their church and was terminated after his arrest. The church's board of directors posted a letter on its website saying they were unaware of the allegations before Barbee's arrest and that the news came as a "devastating shock to all of us."
"We understand that the recent news has brought deep pain and sorrow to many, including his wife, family, and our spiritual family here at Oasis. Our hearts are heavy as we grieve alongside those affected," the church said.
The church said they were unaware of any incidents within their youth ministry. Still, it said they would offer support, prayer, and counseling to anyone in need and that if concerns arise, they would report them to law enforcement to ensure that justice is upheld.
NEWMAN INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY INVESTIGATION
Police chief vows to follow the investigation wherever it leads
Chief of Police Matthew Antkowiak said his department will continue to investigate all leads, no matter where they are. He added that the information they've uncovered so far is not limited to incidents on their campus or in Texas.
"These educational institutions and churches that have come on our radar will be served with search warrants soon," Antkowiak said. "We remain actively examining whether institutions have failed to report illegal sexual contact to law enforcement as required by law."
"To the other kids that are out there just wondering whether I should say something," Antkowiak said. "Say it. Say it again, say it again, say it again. Don't stop saying it until someone steps up and does what's right. Here at Newman, we're going to do what's right."
"As a victim myself of a child sexual crime, I'm not playing," Antkowiak said. "Other educators at other school districts and at churches that failed to take appropriate action and passed the trash will be held accountable."
Dr. Sheba George, the Superintendent for Newman International Academy, wrote in a statement:
“We will root out any exploitation or abuse of our students. There is absolutely no excuse that could justify the actions of educators who do not care about the well-being of students or who hurt them. It is my hope and prayer that other institutions responsible for the safety and well-being of children would take similar actions in response to this epidemic in our schools. At Newman International Academy, we will do what is right. We will fight for the justice of victims.
We will not tolerate abuse or any action that attempts to cover up or hide it. We will deal with all allegations of misconduct of our staff fairly, but make no mistake: There is no place here at Newman where we will protect an educator or this institution’s reputation over a student’s life and the justice deserved by a victim of abuse.”
