CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — UPDATE (12:03 p.m. Dec. 20): The city of Corpus Christi has appealed to the Texas Attorney General's office on behalf of the Corpus Christi Police Department for guidance in responding to 3NEWS' request for information about this case.
As our original story states, a Freedom of Information Act request was sent to the department for information about allegations against a local elementary-school principal. Their response -- a letter addressed to the attorney general's office -- was emailed to 3NEWS on Tuesday.
The letter asks the attorney general to allow the department to exclude certain information from the station's request because it constitutes confidential information; because the intimate nature of the case violates peoples' expectation to common law privacy; that the information isn't relevant to the public; and that releasing the information would interfere with the case's investigation.
“This investigation is still ongoing and release of the marked portions of the submitted information prematurely could jeopardize the investigation,” the letter states.
When the attorney general's office responds to the police department's request, 3NEWS will update this story.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Corpus Christi ISD provided a little more detail Monday about the claims of wrongdoing against an elementary school principal, allegations it says are "false."
The allegations have gone viral on TikTok and led to a widespread doxing text message Sunday with the principal's name, address and phone number. The doxing of the principal is now also under investigation.
3NEWS is not identifying the principal because he has not been charged with any crime.
The district first addressed the viral TikTok allegations on Sunday and said in part, "The allegations circulating on social media were investigated by district, local and state agencies and found to be false."
3NEWS asked the district to clarify that on Monday and then reached out to some local and statewide agencies. Here's what we found:
Corpus Christi ISD's own investigation found the allegations false
On Monday, CCISD issued the following statement to 3NEWS:
"While we cannot discuss specific cases in detail, investigations may include district and local police as well as other state and federal agencies as appropriate. Corpus Christi ISD’s investigation is complete, with findings that the allegations are false. While we cannot speak on behalf of other agencies, we were aware of additional investigations and are not aware of any other investigation regarding this matter that has resulted in any findings."
Corpus Christi Police Department investigation 'ongoing'
The Corpus Christi Police Department confirmed it does have an active investigation but did not say whether it had made any determination on the validity of the allegations.
A police spokesperson emailed us this response:
"I can confirm that we do have an investigation involving accusations made against a school administrator. The case is still ongoing."
CCPD said it would not release any additional information unless it receives a Freedom of Information Act request. 3NEWS filed that request Monday, which gives CCPD 10 business days to respond.
TEA has not opened a formal investigation into the matter
The Texas Education Agency said it is now aware of the allegations against the principal but does not have a formal investigation at this time. In a prepared statement the TEA wrote:
"TEA has been made aware of the matter and is evaluating what next steps, if any, are necessary. However, there is no formal investigation at this time."
When 3NEWS learned the TEA did not have an active investigation, we also reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety. We are still waiting to hear back about any DPS investigation.
CCPD investigating doxing of principal
CCPD did tell us it has a second investigation open for the doxing of the school principal's private information on Sunday.
Doxing is when someone finds and publishes the private or identifying information of another person on the Internet, typically with malicious or harassing intent. CCPD said:
"In regard to the text message, we have received information regarding that complaint. It is also an active investigation. Requests for that report or investigation will also need to be submitted through our Open Records Department."
Some parents of CCISD students on the 3NEWS staff received the text, which had the principal's name, address and phone number.
CCISD said it was not made aware of any systems that may have been compromised and that even some people who do not have any affiliation with the district also received the mass text.
CCISD said it is "disheartened by the threatening calls and messages as well as harassment staff members are receiving as a result of recent posts." It said it will report any harassment or threats to law enforcement.
Digital director Ana Tamez contributed to this developing story. 3NEWS will provide updates as they become available.