An elementary school principal allegedly helped a teacher with a disturbing history of child abuse accusations change his name and slip through hiring safeguards before landing a job teaching vulnerable special-needs children.

Former Crosby Elementary School principal Wendy Bailey is accused of helping Michael Raymond Roell - who was using the name Johnathan Michael - conceal previous criminal charges and disciplinary problems before he was hired by Forney Independent School District near Dallas, Texas.

Federal prosecutors say the alleged deception ultimately put Roell back inside an elementary school as a special education teacher, earning around $67,700 a year.

A federal grand jury indicted Bailey and Roell on Thursday on one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and six counts of wire fraud.

Prosecutors allege the pair deliberately engineered a scheme to defeat safeguards designed to prevent educators with serious misconduct in their backgrounds from getting back into classrooms.

'The allegations in this indictment represent a profound violation of trust,' US Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould said.

'A school is supposed to be a place where children are safe and protected, not a place where an educator with a known history of misconduct can walk back into a classroom because someone in a position of authority helped him hide who he really was – a predator that targets special needs children.'

The extraordinary allegations stretch back a decade.

It was on June 6, 2016, Roell was arrested in Dallas County and charged with indecency with a child – sexual conduct after allegations involving a student while he was working for Garland Independent School District.

Prosecutors say he was accused of touching at least one student in the groin area and watching the child use the restroom. He was subsequently terminated by Garland ISD.

According to the indictment, that was not the only warning sign in Roell's employment history. 

Prosecutors say he had also been placed on leave multiple times over abuse-related allegations while working in other school districts.

Bailey allegedly knew about that history but instead of revealing it when Roell later sought employment at her school, prosecutors claim she helped him conceal it.

'Principal Bailey coached Roell on how that name change would evade a background check,' Raybould said during a news conference announcing the charges.

According to the indictment, Roell legally changed his name from Michael Raymond Roell to Johnathan Michael before applying to Forney ISD.

Prosecutors claim that, with Bailey's encouragement, he then submitted an application that omitted his previous identity along with his criminal charges, alleged misconduct and disciplinary history.

Bailey allegedly used her position as principal to champion his candidacy and participated in hiring communications that helped propel the application through the process.

Federal investigators say emails, text messages and employment documents reveal the pair coordinating to conceal information that could have prevented Roell from being hired.

'This indictment demonstrates the lengths these two defendants went to circumvent a hiring process meant to keep our schools and students safe,' FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock said.

'We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that students not only receive a good education, but that education is provided in a safe environment.'

The alleged scheme succeeded.

In October 2025, Roell - under his new legal name - was hired to teach special education at Crosby Elementary School. But his return to the classroom lasted only months.

In May 2026, Texas Rangers arrested Roell on separate state charges of felony child abuse and grooming.

That arrest ultimately led to the federal investigation that resulted in the latest indictment, authorities said.

Federal prosecutors stressed that the new charges against Bailey and Roell concern the alleged concealment of Roell's prior history during the hiring process rather than determining his guilt over the underlying allegations themselves.

But Raybould accused the pair of putting children in danger by allegedly circumventing protections specifically designed to keep troubling histories from being hidden.

'This office will use every tool available to aggressively prosecute anyone who compromises the safety of children or undermines the integrity of our public institutions,' Raybould said.

'These individuals did not just conspire to break the law, they actively and maliciously put children at risk.'

Roell has been in federal custody since August 27, according to authorities.

If convicted of the federal charges, both Roell and Bailey face sentences of up to 20 years in prison as well as the potential forfeiture of proceeds connected to the alleged offenses.

The FBI's Dallas Field Office led the investigation alongside Homeland Security Investigations Dallas and the Texas Rangers. 

Authorities say the prosecution is part of Project Safe Schools, a federal initiative aimed at exposing failures to report educator misconduct and preventing potentially dangerous teachers from quietly moving from one school district to another.

Officials have described that practice as 'passing the trash' - situations in which educators with known misconduct problems are able to secure jobs elsewhere without their complete history following them.

The initiative is intended to enforce mandatory reporting requirements, increase transparency surrounding investigations of educators and hold administrators and school districts accountable when required safeguards allegedly fail.