POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — A former Point Pleasant Intermediate School principal says a child abuse charge will follow him throughout his career, even though he has been acquitted.
“I was up for recertification this year, and one of the questions from the West Virginia Department of Education was, ‘Have you ever been indicted?’ I had to mark ‘yes’ at that time,” said Cameron Moffett.
On Tuesday, Mason County Circuit Judge David Nibert found Moffett not guilty of the felony charge during a bench trial immediately after prosecutors wrapped up their case against him.
It ended more than a year of uncertainty for Moffett who continues to work for the Mason County Board of Education, but not as a school principal. “I don’t think it should have taken a year and a half of my life to come to this conclusion,” he said on Wednesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
“Everyday, (I had to wonder) am I going to have a job? Am I going to be indicted? I’m the sole breadwinner in my family. Is my wife, my children, are we going to lose our house? Are we going to lose everything because of this?”
Moffett was indicted in May of this year for an incident that happened in March 2012 when he forcibly removed an 11-year old student from a school bus prior to a school field trip.
He said the student, who is in special education, would not follow instructions to leave the bus after causing a disruption and being asked to move repeatedly. Bus surveillance video showed Moffett shoving the boy out of the door where he was pinned down on the pavement.
A civil lawsuit from the family of the student involved is still pending against Moffett and the Mason County Board of Education.
Moffett is now maintenance director for the Mason County Board of Education and he said he plans to stay in that role.
His long term goals are to be a superintendent and eventually do consulting work, but he admits his indictment might hurt his chances when compared with other applicants.
“I don’t dwell on the negative. I try to dwell on the positive. I’m thankful I have a job. I’m thankful I have a healthy wife, healthy kids,” said Moffett.
“There could be a lot worse things in life that happen to me than this but, at the same time, I never want to go through something like this again.”