Plano ISD teacher accused of abuse worked more than 25 years; police seek additional victims

Plano police are releasing new details in the investigation into a Brinker Elementary teacher accused of sexually abusing an 8-year-old student. As the 64-year-old remains jailed without bond, detectives are interviewing additional people to determine whether there may be more victims while the school district holds a vote on terminating his employment.

Police said 64-year-old Paul Campbell was arrested on Wednesday at the Plano Independent School District administration building after being called in for a meeting.

Campbell is now behind bars at the Collin County jail, accused of sexually abusing one of his young students. Plano police said the alleged abuse happened on campus at Brinker Elementary, where Campbell taught second grade. Investigators said over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, an 8-year-old student told their parents about inappropriate physical contact involving the 64-year-old. The parents then contacted Plano police and filed a report.

"This was all physical, physical contact," said Plano detective Jerry Minton. "It started off with a forensic interview with the child and began following up on the information that was provided at that time."

At this time, police could not say how many times the alleged abuse happened or the nature of the crime, but they said Campbell worked within the district for more than 25 years.

"He was physically teaching in classes," said Minton. "He was involved in school programs."

Wednesday, Plano ISD released a statement saying in part, "the alleged conduct is reprehensible and is completely inconsistent with the values and expectations we hold for all Plano ISD employees."

The Texas Advocacy Project, an organization that works with abuse victims, said educator misconduct cases are a big issue in Texas. Whether incidents are becoming more common is unknown.

"So it could be that there is an actual increase in the assaults," said Heather Bellino, the Texas Advocacy Project chief executive officer. "But hopefully it is because there is an increase in the reporting, and with an increase in the reporting, that means that they're going to be investigated more often."

Campbell faces a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child. He is being held without bond. Police are now doing additional interviews to find out if there are additional victims.

"We're not really too sure, that's one of the things that the detectives are starting to dig into now," Minton said. "There were some names provided, I don't know if they were witnesses or potential victims as well."

According to the school's website, Plano ISD has called a special board meeting on Thursday night for trustees to vote on terminating Campbell.