FORNEY, TX — A former Forney ISD special education teacher is facing child injury and grooming charges after the Texas Rangers arrested him May 29, according to an arrest affidavit. The document says Jonathan Michael was accused of two violent encounters with students at Crosby Elementary School earlier this year. It also says district staff gave statements alleging he physically and sexually abused special education students. Michael was removed from his job in April, before the arrest. Forney ISD later told parents an educator had been taken out of the district, but did not identify him by name.
Two Classroom Incidents
The affidavit describes one incident in January 2026 in which Michael was upset with a student and allegedly grabbed the child’s right arm, twisted the wrist and used an armbar takedown. Investigators say he then pushed the student into a bookshelf. A second incident, in February 2026, involved a student who was reportedly grabbed and violently pulled to the floor. The affidavit says the child nearly hit his head on a table during the fall. It also states Michael pinned the 8-year-old student down with his knee. The charges include two counts of injury to a child and one count of child grooming.
District Actions And Staff Statements
Forney ISD police were told by staff members about alleged physical and sexual abuse involving special education students at Crosby Elementary, according to the affidavit. The school’s principal was also fired, though the source document does not say whether that action was tied directly to the allegations against Michael. The district’s April letter to parents said only that an educator had been removed, leaving out the teacher’s name. The arrest came weeks later, on May 29, after the Texas Rangers took Michael into custody. He remains in the Kaufman County Jail as the case moves forward.
Earlier Arrest Under Different Name
Records cited in the report say Michael previously used the name Michael Roell while working for Garland ISD as a special education teacher. In 2016, he was arrested on a charge of indecency to a child with sexual contact while assigned to Hudson Middle School. Michael Roell later wrote in an unsuccessful 2019 civil lawsuit against Garland ISD that a Dallas County jury acquitted him. In that filing, he said the allegations left him “virtually unemployable.” The current report notes the earlier case as part of his criminal history but does not add new court details beyond what he described in his own filings.
Questions About Hiring Review
Forney City Councilman James Traylor said he tried to contact the Texas Attorney General’s Office to ask how Michael was hired by Forney ISD. Traylor said the office referred him to the Texas Education Agency. He criticized the situation in comments to FOX 4, saying the community had “a monster on the streets of Forney” and that children deserved better. The report says the source material comes from arrest affidavits, Forney ISD and FOX 4 reporting. The reason behind the child grooming charge was not explained in the available information, and the story does not say what review, if any, the district has opened.
