An empty classroom at Northwest Preparatory Academy Charter School. (Image credit Northwest Preparatory Academy Charter School via Facebook)
Esther Irene Stokes of Montgomery, Texas has been accused of fondling one of her first grade students and charged with indecency with a child. But Stokes denies the allegations, saying she's too racist to have touched the student, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The 7-year-old told police that Stokes, her teacher at Northwest Preparatory Academy Charter School, sent all other students out of the classroom and touched her on her "private part" outside her clothes, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.
The girl told Stokes to stop touching her, at which time the defendant told her to get out of the classroom, according to court records. The teacher "made her stand outside of the classroom in the hallway and refused to allow her to eat lunch and take a test," records state.
Police met with Stokes after she failed a polygraph examination. Stokes denied touching the girl "on any part of her body," prosecutors said.
"The defendant stated that she doesn't like black students because she was prejudiced," the complaint states. She told police that "she does not like the complainant" and has "very little to no interaction" with her.
Stokes denied being alone with the girl or not allowing her to eat lunch. However, Principal Paul A. Hardin told investigators that a cafeteria printout showed that the girl ate breakfast March 1 but did not eat lunch that day.
Stokes had been placed on administrative leave after her arrest, and was fired after an investigation by school officials, according to a news release Tuesday.
