A former Denton ISD coach was arrested earlier this month for online solicitation of a minor.
Justin Wallace Carter, 27, a former Denton High School employee, was arrested by the Denton County Sheriff’s Office in a two-day sting operation on June 14 along with 23 others, reported Texas Scorecard.
Carter used the social networking app Whisper to communicate with someone whom he believed to be a minor, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by WFAA. The person he communicated with was actually an undercover investigator. When Carter showed up for an arranged meeting, he was arrested.
According to county jail records, Carter was given a $25,000 bond, which he successfully posted.
Krystyn Comeaux, a Ponder ISD parent, told WFAA that her daughter was treated inappropriately by Carter at the Ponder Middle School in 2023.
“I am angry because there were red flags and they were ignored,” Comeaux said, per WFAA.
Comeaux’s daughter, Krystyn Mahmood, told WFAA that Carter pulled her aside one day and asked for her Snapchat account, reported WFAA.
“That’s when I started getting really nervous… I was like, okay this is real, he actually added me. It felt really wrong,” Mahmood told WFAA.
“It could’ve been bad,” Comeaux told Texas Scorecard. “It didn’t get very far. We stopped it before it developed into something. The only reason she is not a true victim is because she had a friend who was willing to speak up to protect her, to do something. That takes a lot of courage.”
Carter resigned from Ponder ISD in May 2023 and joined Denton ISD in 2024 as a provisional employee, per WFAA.
Comeaux told Texas Scorecard that she called Denton High School to warn them about Carter, but “nobody did anything.”
“It’s alarming that this person was hired by Denton ISD to begin with. Texas schools need to seriously reform their hiring practices to prevent people like this from becoming teachers,” Texas Coalition for Kids president Kelly Neidert told DX.
“He shouldn’t be allowed to take care of anybody in a vulnerable position,” Comeaux said, per WFAA.
As covered extensively by The Dallas Express, a number of scandals involving public school teachers and staffers have come to light during the past year. Such accusations of misconduct have led to calls for more transparency in state authorities’ handling of such reports and improved background check procedures during the hiring process.
A Dallas ISD teacher was arrested last year for allegedly having an improper relationship with a student.
“The complainant said the suspect told her he wanted her to be in his bed and to have sex with her. The complainant said the suspect wanted to have kids with her. The complainant also stated the suspect contacted her over the phone, and while talking over the phone, the suspect was masturbating while talking to her over the phone,” the affidavit reads.