Friday brought another twist in the case of former Moore Middle School football coach Caleb Elliott.
This time, the U.S. Attorney’s Office released a federal indictment related to allegations that Elliott secretly recorded young boys who were undressed in the school’s locker room.
“This is a big development in the case because any time the federal government takes over the prosecution of a criminal case, for the most part, it is going to make the prosecution and the seriousness of the amount of time the accused person is facing much higher. And in this case, that’s absolutely the case,” said Mike Howard, a criminal defense attorney who isn’t associated with the case.
“I think it doesn’t shortcut what we have to do, which is proving our case,” said Paul Herz.
Herz represents one dozen families of the alleged victims in one of multiple civil cases recently filed against Elliott and Celina ISD.
He said the new federal case bolsters his, which is testing a new state law allowing people to sue school districts for an employee’s sexual misconduct.
“So to see criminal investigations and now an indictment into the same acts that we’ve alleged to be criminal, because we have to allege that they’re criminal, certainly helps our point,” he said.
Howard said state prosecutors could now step aside and let the federal case play out. Despite three previous charges in Collin County, he said the federal case carries a potential for prison time that far exceeds what Elliott already faced.
“Even though it’s the same facts, the same investigation, just because it’s been brought in federal court, the punishment potentially is much more severe,” said Howard.
