Parents say alleged child predator was transferred to their HISD school without their knowledge
HOUSTON - A Houston ISD elementary school teacher will be back in court Wednesday, accused of felony indecency with a child—the second HISD teacher in three days to be arrested on the same charge.
James Bradley, 39, was arrested at Lockhart Elementary School Monday, accused of molesting a five-year-old girl at Foster Elementary School in February 2019.
Court records show the alleged victim told investigators in April that Bradley touched her private parts under her clothing.
Instead of informing parents about the investigation or removing Bradley from teaching during the investigation, parents told FOX 26 they were left uninformed while Bradley moved to another school.
“The school district failed,” said Terrell Oliver, whose first-grader goes to Lockhart Elementary. “If I knew my child was going to school with [him], he wouldn’t come here.”
Bradley was teaching at Lockhart when he was charged with felony indecency with a child Monday.
Sheila Parr, whose daughter attends Lockhart, told Fox 26 she was alarmed to hear her granddaughter’s reaction to seeing the teacher’s mugshot on TV this morning.
“And she said, ‘Yeah, Grandma, I know him. I’ve seen him,”’ said Parr. “And I’m like, ‘When? Where?’ You know.”
Parr says she was kept in the dark about the allegations lodged against the new teacher at her granddaughter’s school until the news broke of his arrest.
“They should have alerted parents that this particular person was here on this facility after this other situation happened,” said Parr.
“I wish all parents were notified,” said Bianca Stanford, the parent of a Foster Elementary student who had Bradley as a teacher last year. “I wish there was letters or phone calls.”
Stanford says Bradley mysteriously disappeared from her daughter’s classroom in the spring of 2019 without any information as to why—until news broke of his arrest Monday.
“I was really taken aback, because I was like, wow everything is adding up,” said Stanford. “Everything- ‘cause he was gone and then he showed up during summertime for the day camp, but it just all added up, and I was just very taken aback. I’m just worried about the safety and I’m worried about who else they’re gonna bring in,” said Stanford.
Stanford said she finally did receive a letter Tuesday from the district about Bradley.
It says in part, “Please be advised that a staff member at Lockhart Elementary School was arrested by Houston ISD Police and charged today with indecency with a child. The staff member was employed at Foster Elementary School when the alleged incident occurred. The employee has been reassigned to off-campus duty.”
Houston ISD declined FOX 26’s request for an interview Tuesday but released the following statement:
HISD is reviewing steps taken in each of the recent cases involving student allegations of inappropriate conduct. The district is examining its processes and protocols to ensure the educational environment remains a safe place for our students. In each of the recent cases, the district followed its existing protocol of immediately reassigning the accused staff member to home duty. Additional action followed when the district was able to substantiate allegations. HISD is cooperating with law enforcement authorities to facilitate the judicial process in these cases. Protecting the well-being of our students is the top priority for HISD.