Former Plano elementary teacher faces new child sex abuse charges after more students come forward

Plano police are revealing more about an elementary school teacher accused of being a serial child molester. 

Paul Campbell faces three new charges after more children came forward with disturbing allegations about what was happening in his classroom. 

Arrest reports obtained by CBS News Texas show an alleged pattern of abuse by Paul Edward Campbell, a former second-grade teacher at Brinker Elementary School in Plano. 

Three more children made outcries to their parents, which were reviewed by Plano's Children Advocacy Center. 

It started with one student who, earlier this month, told her father that the 64-year-old teacher inappropriately touched her and that she "...observed this happening to other females in the class." 

It turns out, Plano police say, Campbell's arrest four days later led more students to come forward with similar accounts, some dating back to the 2023 school year. 

"We know that the young people had a lot of courage to come forward to their parents," said Andrae Smith, with the Plano Police Department. "That tells me they have an open line of communication with their parents. I can say that the parents were brave to come forward to the Plano Police Department."

Police say the student accusers are all female and 7 years of age or older. 

In two of the new cases, the alleged abuse happened on two and four occasions "...in Campbell's classroom at his desk."

Plano police say the investigation will continue to examine Campbell's 28-year career with the Plano Independent School District to see whether any of his students, who may now be adults, have similar accounts. 

"And we're going to take it from here," said Smith. "We're going to investigate this, this case, to the end. And the purpose right now is to see if there are any other potential witnesses or victims. That was, you know, at the hands of this evil.

Campbell remains on leave from Plano ISD and is still in the Collin County Jail, facing three counts of indecency with a child and one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child. 

State representative Jeff Leach (R-Collin County) shared this statement with CBS News Texas on Wednesday, July 29:

The child sex abuse allegations involving a now-former second-grade teacher in Plano are horrific and strike at the heart of the trust that we place in our public schools. Plano ISD appears to have acted swiftly and responsibly by immediately terminating the teacher's employment and providing its full support and resources to the students and families who were impacted.

The individual responsible should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and, if convicted, he should never see the outside of a prison for the rest of his life. Moreover, if any individual knew -or reasonably should have known - about this conduct and failed to report it or take appropriate action, they too must be held accountable. Texans should expect nothing less.

Teaching body safety early  

As the investigation continues, mental health experts are reminding parents about the warning signs to watch for and how to talk to children about safety and boundaries.

Amanda Esquivel, owner of Room For Change Therapy, says parents should pay attention to changes in their child's behavior or personality.

"The main things that I would be looking for are stark changes and the children's demeanor, behavior, things that they used to enjoy doing," Esquivel said. They no longer enjoy doing any points of regression."

Esquivel says prevention starts with educating children early about body safety and who they can trust.

"Prevention goes a long way in educating children about what parts of their body are okay or not okay. And who has access to that?" Esquivel said. "You know, a pediatrician is going to have different access than a neighbor, a teacher, an extended family member."

She also says parents should not blame themselves if their child experiences abuse.

"And when something bad happens, we have a belief that we've done something wrong, that we went astray in some way, and we really need to get away from that belief system as much as we can," she said.