A school principal in Arkansas has been accused of being the “leader” of a makeshift fight club, and has just learned about his future following this crime.
Mary Tracy Morrisonowner and director of the Delta Institute for the Developing Brain and the Engage program in Jonesboro, pleaded guilty to one count of permitting child abuse and four counts of causing the delinquency of a child on Monday, May 4, according to KAIT.
Morrison, 51, was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 120 days of house arrest using electronic monitoring and nine years of probation following his plea.
You are also prohibited from working with children in any professional activity. Additionally, the judge ordered him to surrender his occupational therapy license and any other related licenses, and to complete a mental health evaluation and follow all recommended treatment.
Morrison was arrested in April 2025 after the teenager’s mother told the Craighead County Sheriff’s Office that her son reported being physically and mentally abused while at school.
Deputies obtained a photo of the incident, which revealed that Morrison “ordered the child to sit down while being surrounded outside the circle by 18 other children’s students and Dr. Morrison,” according to a probable cause affidavit filed by KAIT.
Morrison allegedly told other students to put their hands on the child and hit him with “an unknown object.” Morrison is alleged to have verbally abused the child, while footage shows another student kicking and choking the child.
After the incident, Morrison was seen “giving the child five prizes, showing his happiness at the student’s action.”
And during the alleged incident, which lasted 30 minutes, another teacher ordered a student to hit a classmate “in the private area.”
Morrison “ordered the victim to apologize to all the other students” following the incident and told the students not to discuss the incident again.
Co-workers at school Michael Bean, Kristin Bell again Katherine Lipscomb they were also arrested in connection with the abuse. According to the affidavit, all three adults witnessed the abuse and did not intervene.
A lawyer Bill Stanleyrepresenting Bean, 38, and Bell, 36, and an attorney Paul Fordrepresenting Morrison, argued that the affidavit did not provide evidence of actual physical harm to the victim, according to KAIT. As a result of what the lawyers found, they said that the charge of allowing the abuse of a small child should be amended.
It is not yet clear whether Bean, Bell and Lipscomb have applied. The Craighead County sheriff’s office did not immediately respond Us WeeklyThe Government’s request for comment on the arrest of all four.
