A Few More Details on ESD Lawsuit, Accused Teacher

I drove up to Denton today in search of divorce filings for John Nathan Campbell, the former ESD teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student. In the petition, filed in December (the split was finalized March 26), Campbell’s ex-wife cites “discord or conflict of personalities” and adultery as the grounds for divorce. It does not go into further detail.

His wife retains custody of their 3-year-old son and their Carrolton home. The address and phone number listed for Campbell in court documents–a condominium in Northeast Dallas–appears to belong to his mother.

On a side note, Sgt. Brenda Nichols of the Dallas Police Department’s child abuse squad said a criminal investigation into Campbell was launched in December and is ongoing. She does not know when it will be concluded. She said the grounds on which ESD decided to fire him (attorney Donald Godwin said the school made the decision but Campbell quit before it was able to carry it out) do not prove that anything criminal happened.

“We’re not interested in administrative type of thing as far as what the school is going to be interested in,” Nichols said. “We’re strictly interested in whether he violated a law of the state of Texas.”

Under state law, a high school teacher engaging in a sexual relationship with a student is a second degree felony, as is an adult having a sexual relationship with a minor.

By Eric Nicholson May. 20, 2010 | 2:51 pm | 6 Comments | Comments RSS
6 comments to "A Few More Details on ESD Lawsuit, Accused Teacher"
  1. ejpe @ May 20, 2010 at 11:00 pm
    According to the Petition, the Plaintiff’s demand is to have a full refund of tuition paid since Kindergarten. Did this young woman not receive ANY education up until the point of the alleged sexual abuse? (10+ years)? This suit, while perhaps originally filed to address issues of law and principal, now just smacks of a demand for a tuition refund and in many eyes diminishes the value of the Plaintiff’s claim. For those who attended ESD at the time of the incident or who knew the defendant as a teacher or the student “victim” it is indeed a sad day. And, as a seasoned attorney, I must admit that the Petition, as submitted to the Court, looks as if it had been prepared by a summer intern or very inexperienccd associate.

  2. not in dallas @ May 21, 2010 at 9:45 am
    I don’t understand the delay on criminal charges. The UA teacher who was charged with an inappropriate relationship with a student a few years ago was publicly raked through the coals by the DA’s office. This situation seems much worse than that one.

  3. Lisa @ May 24, 2010 at 11:15 pm
    If the allegations are true as stated in the complaint, I hope the young lady sees her day in court and has the opportunity to string this “educator” up by his short hairs.

    Only 1 child’s tuition? I would ask for all of my children’s tuition since they set foot on the school grounds. How will the parents ever trust that their other children will be okay at ESD? How can the victim ever return to ESD for any reason, even to see her siblings’ events?

    If this makes it to a jury trial, I hope I’m called up that week!

  4. what up @ June 5, 2010 at 5:33 pm
    there are no more siblings at ESD

  5. jcp187 @ August 17, 2011 at 4:20 pm
    EJPE…I heard that ESD basically expelled the victim from school because they didn’t want the story to get around..they wanted to keep it hush-hush. I don’t blame the parents for suing for complete reimbursement of all tuition paid to that school. I would if it were my child. I hope they win and get it all, plus some. The child was a victim of an adult who was in a position of authority and trust and should not have been further victimized by ESD for kicking her out.

  6. mac15 @ August 17, 2011 at 5:34 pm
    If this had happened to me while I was in high school or to my future children I would want him or her to leave the school regardless. I would not want them to have to deal with the other kids talking and trust me all the other students in upper school knew about it very shortly after it came out and they were caught so to speak. If you think the girl would not have to have continued to live the sordid affair day after day you are wrong. I think the parents are right in suing ESD however why would they have wanted her to stay? Also the family needs to think about what the school did do for their other children it provided a place of education, it allowed them future opportunities. And I personally think it is sad that ESD is being attacked on all fronts. While I think they should do the best they can to protect their students, it was the teacher who crossed the line not the school.

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