Award-winning Judson ISD teacher charged with indecency with child

Frederick Darnell Ward, 49, was charged with indecency with a child. Frederick Darnell Ward, 49, was charged with indecency with a child. Photo: Courtesy Photo Photo: Courtesy Photo Image 1 of / 38 Caption Close Award-winning Judson ISD teacher charged with indecency with child 1 / 38 Back to Gallery

The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office charged a former Kitty Hawk Middle School teacher, Frederick Darnell Ward, 49, with indecency with a child, a second-degree felony, after a student reported an incident last week, officials said.

Ward, an award-winning teacher at Judson Independent School District, allegedly groped a 12-year-old female student and kissed her on May 17, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. The student reported the incident to a counselor, saying she was certain it was not an accident because Ward had asked “if she was OK with it” and touched her again, the affidavit states.

Kitty Hawk principal Rodney Vigil contacted district police, the document states. Ward was put on administrative leave and resigned the next day, according to a statement the district issued Monday.

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The affidavit said Ward, summoned to Vigil’s office and asked to wait, instead went back to his classroom, packed his belongings and left. He then called Vigil on his cell phone to let him know he had left the campus, and the two agreed to meet at the Judson ISD Central Office, where he was later asked to go to the district police department for further questioning.

According to the affidavit, Ward denied any sexual contact with the student in a written statement, which said the student “often gets a side hug but no touching (or) sexually things go on.”

Ward had been with Judson ISD since 2013, as an instructional aide and later a teacher, and there was no evidence that he had “harmed or had any similar contact with any other students at this or any other campus within JISD,” the district statement said.

Ward is a 2014 recipient of the Spirit of Judson award which, according to the district’s website, is given to teachers “who consistently show a level quality in teaching students that includes respect and results in the classroom.”

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