Lumberton ISD official indicted

Months of investigation related to the hasty resignation of a Lumberton ISD official has revealed the now former Communication and Community Partnership Director has been indicted by a Hardin County grand jury in connection to a child abuse case involving her son and daughter-in-law.

According to the Oct. 6 indictment obtained by The Examiner against Mary Agnew Johnson, then the director of Communication and Community Partnership for Lumberton ISD, the school district official is accused of obstruction or retaliation, a third-degree felony. No public record of the event(s) prompting the indictment were available, according to District Attorney Rebecca Walton, who advised that Johnson’s case was specially presented directly to the grand jury with no probable cause affidavit that would be subject to public review. Instead, words uttered in secret sessions with the grand jury with enough gumption to seal a felony indictment were utilized to secure a warrant for arrest.

The indictment itself does give some indication as to the allegations that led to Johnson’s arrest. According to the indictment, the school district official allegedly threatened a Lumberton Intermediate School counselor on Sept. 1, 2023, to prevent the employee from reporting suspected abuse of Johnson’s step-grandchildren. As accepted by the Hardin County grand jury, Johnson “used her position with the school district” when she went to the counselor’s office during working hours, using an “elevated voice or curse word(s) or berating the counselor,” in an attempt to bully the employee to not report or testify as to suspected abuse of Johnson’s step-grandchild or step-grandchildren.”

According to the Texas Family Code, school employees are required by law to report suspected abuse within 48 hours of first suspecting that a child has been or may be abused or neglected.

The case was investigated by the Lumberton Police Department and primary investigator Det. Chad Wilson, according to Walton.

Even after the indictment, more than a week passed before Johnson was taken into custody – not that she would be in jail for long. Johnson was arrested on Oct. 16, 2023, and booked into the Hardin County Jail; she was released the same day on a $10,000 bond, according to the Hardin County Jail log. The Lumberton ISD Board of Education accepted Johnson’s resignation, effectively predated to the day before her felony arrest, Oct. 15, 2023, at the elected body’s Nov. 9, 2023 meeting. The district later hired Kristin Winzer, M. Ed., as the new communication director.

According to her social media profile, Johnson was a long-time employee with LISD, serving 22 years as a campus instructional technology specialist and nearly seven years as director of Digital Learning Services. In May 2021, Johnson was hired as communication director.

Johnson’s son, Matthew Thomas Johnson, was also arrested in October 2023, charged with injury to a child with intent to bodily injury – an accusation similar to one he’s faced before. According to an Oct. 6 indictment against Matthew, the most recently charged incident occurred on Dec. 4, 2019, when he allegedly injured a child under age 14 by pulling them around by their arm, which resulted in a dislocated elbow.

On July 24, 2023, Matthew Johnson, 33, and his wife, Emily Johnson, 30, were indicted on six counts of injury to a child and six counts of abandon/endanger child imminent danger for six separate offenses dated Jan. 1, 2022; Jan. 1, 2022; June 25, 2022; Oct. 11, 2022; Oct. 22, 2022; and Oct. 28, 2022. The couple is accused of abusing two children, age 14 or younger, for over a year.

The first two incidents allegedly occurred Jan. 1, 2022, with Matthew Johnson accused of picking up a child by the arms, slamming the child against a door causing the doorknob to injure the hip area, and hitting the child with the metal part of a belt on the hip and leg.

The third incident was June 22, 2022, with Matthew Johnson accused of hitting a child multiple times with a wooden paddle on the arms, legs and buttocks.

There were three incidents in October 2022 – with the male suspect accused of hitting the child by throwing objects at their head and punching the child in the left arm on Oct. 11, hitting a child in the chest on Oct. 22, and punching a child in the forehead and arm on Oct. 28.

Emily Johnson, the children’s mother, is accused of hitting her child on five occasions. She allegedly hit a child with the metal part of a belt on the hip and leg, and later picked up a child and slammed the child against a door on Jan. 1, 2022.

On June 22, 2022, Emily Johnson was accused of hitting a child multiple times with a wooden paddle on the arm, leg and buttocks; Oct. 11, 2022, she allegedly threw objects at her child, hitting the child in the head and punching the child’s left arm.

Emily Johnson is also accused of, on Oct. 22, 2022, hitting her child in the chest and punching the child in the forehead and arm, as well as not taking the children to an emergency care provider as required of parents under the Texas Family Code.

Emily Johnson was arrested July 25, 2023 and Matthew Johnson was first arrested July 26, 2023. According to the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office, Matthew Johnson’s total bond was $120,000; the bond was set at $180,000 for Emily Johnson. Both bonded out on July 26, 2023. 

December 2023, Emily Johnson was celebrated by her employer for earning certified veterinary assistant designation, the company giving a different version of the woman than what grand jury indictments detail.

“She brings such compassion to our office,” Main Street Veterinary Clinic shared.

Matthew Johnson reports current full-time employment at Lamar Institute of Technology, with a part-time gig at Lamar State College Orange, as well as previous employment at Port Neches-Groves High School. 

The injury to a child indictments are third-degree felonies and the abandon/endanger child indictments are second-degree felonies. 

Attempts to check on the children’s safety were met with resistance. According to Child Protective Services, information about cases could only be given to family members or case workers. 

Superintendent retiring

The criminally charged former communication director isn’t the only Lumberton ISD official leaving the district. Superintendent Dr. Tony Tipton, who was hired by the district in June 2020, announced he submitted his retirement notice in December 2023. 

At the Dec. 7, 2023 school board meeting, trustees approved a voluntary retirement agreement with Tipton.

“After 30 years in public education it’s time for a new adventure,” Tipton posted on social media. “I will continue serving as superintendent through May 30, then become a transition advisor through October. I’ll be actively searching for new employment opportunities.”