Former student says Houston ISD assistant principal sexually assaulted him
HOUSTON - 20-year-old Malachi Knight Boyle says he's the victim mentioned in court documents that spell out what happened on September 27 at Bryan Tigner's apartment.
Tigner is an assistant principal at Westbury High School, which is where Boyle says he met him a couple of years ago while in his senior year.
"I just trusted him, and he took advantage of that," said Boyle.
He says Tigner started communicating with him over Instagram this year and Boyle has gone to Tigner's apartment a handful of times to drink and hang out.
He says on the night in question, he was there alone drinking tequila and smoking weed with Tigner. He says he fell asleep on the couch and woke up to Tigner performing an unwanted sexual act on him.
"I just started punching. I didn't even see anything. I just started swinging, it was dark," he said.
He says he gathered his things and tried to leave and Tigner offered him $50.
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"He wanted me to keep my mouth shut, he didn't want me to say anything," he said.
The court documents say Tigner claims the encounter was consensual.
Boyle says he wanted to make it a point to speak out so that anyone else affected by sexual assault feels the courage to do the same.
"I just don't want this to happen to anyone else. Some kids are just vulnerable," he said. "I just want people to feel comfortable talking to someone. Someone is going to listen, someone is going to care, that person will be held accountable if you tell the right person."
Bond for Tigner was set at $75,000. His next court date is scheduled for January 8.
FOX 26 has reached out to Houston ISD for a statement regarding Tigner. They said, "HISD cannot comment on the status of any specific personnel issue or investigation. However, the District is aware of the incident and is cooperating with law enforcement. It is standard practice for any employee accused of a criminal offense to be removed from campus pending the outcome of the investigation."