LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — Three Leavenworth School District employees face charges for allegedly failing to report child abuse, which is required by law for educators and administrators.
The charges come as the district faces its second misconduct case this year, following former elementary teacher Jerome Riscovallez.
Riscovallez was charged with indecent liberties with a child in February and recently had more charges filed against him.
Assistant principals Alyssa O'Neal and Kelsey Stimatze, along with executive director of HR, Amy Sloan, are each charged with multiple counts of failure to report child abuse or neglect as mandatory reporters.
"I have a little bit of relief to know that they are holding everybody accountable for what happened," said Jennifer Hull, parent of a student involved in the case.
Jennifer Hull and Victoria Ruiz spoke to me Thursday afternoon over Zoom. The mothers have children who are involved in the cases and said they support the additional charges.
"It's been a long process and it seems like there is going to be a lot more to go," Ruiz said. "But glad that it's moving in the right directions with more than just one individual."
In Kansas, teachers, administrators and first responders are among those designated as mandatory reporters, meaning they must report to the state if there is "reason to suspect that a child has been harmed or has a likelihood of harm."
"Thankfully enough, the police department truly did their job," said Ruiz.
While court records don't explicitly state the district employees failed to report Riscovallez's alleged abuse, he is listed as a witness in all three complaints.
The Leavenworth School District confirmed Thursday all three charged employees remain active.
A statement from the district said: "Due to confidentiality obligations for students and staff, and to avoid intervening in the judicial process, Leavenworth USD 453 has no additional comment to provide at this time."
The three district employees will appear in court later this month, while Riscovallez has his arraignment scheduled for Friday, June 13th in Leavenworth.
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