Attorneys in Collin County are pledging to hold Celina ISD accountable amid a scandal rocking the small but growing city.

State Rep. Mitch Little and two other plaintiffs' lawyers spoke outside the Collin County Courthouse Wednesday morning, saying they plan to file civil lawsuits against the district and school officials over how they handled allegations against Caleb Elliott. 

A separate lawsuit was filed in Collin County last week.

Elliott was a teacher and football coach at Moore Middle School and is facing charges for allegedly photographing boys in the locker room while they were changing. More than one dozen families said their children are victims.

Little and attorneys Quentin Brogdon and Jack Walker said Celina ISD protected Elliott by moving him from one school to another, and by not punishing him for a previous attempt to secretly install cameras in a boys locker room.

Caleb Elliott's father, Bill Elliott, is the longtime coach of Celina High School's football team whose tenure includes a state championship in 2024.

"Instead of protecting those students, the district chose to protect itself. Instead of protecting those vulnerable students, the district chose to protect coaches. It certainly appears instead of protecting the students the district chose to protect it ability to go get another state football championship," Brogdon said.

New Texas law allows for civil lawsuits

Little, who represents part of Denton County in the Texas House, said a new law he authored in the legislative session has made the lawsuits possible.

House Bill 4623, which passed with bipartisan support, signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott and took effect on Sept. 1, removes sovereign immunity from school districts and their employees in sexual abuse cases when they act with gross negligence or recklessness. Little said that victims' families were previously not able to take civil legal action against districts in cases like this.

"I could not possibly have imagined that we would need to apply it as a remedy as quickly and as closely to home as we are right now," Little said.

Criminal investigations are underway in Collin County and the Texas Attorney General's office. Celina ISD has also hired an outside attorney to conduct an internal investigation.