The McCracken County Sheriff’s Office dropped official misconduct charges Friday against the county high school principal and the local school district director of pupil personnel.
Director of Pupil Personnel Brian Bowland is no longer facing criminal charges. Principal Michael Ceglinski is still being charged with failure to report child dependency, abuse or neglect.
McCracken County Attorney Sam Clymer says he no longer believes the facts of the case support the charges due to his changed interpretation of the statute in question (KRS 620.040(4)). He says the alleged conduct doesn’t constitute a situation where a child was dependent, abused or neglected. The school is also allowed to launch an internal investigation into these reports as long as they report the allegation to the proper authorities.
Multiple investigations are still ongoing with McCracken County High School personnel. High School Volunteer Fishing Coach John Parks was arrested on charges of child pornography possession and first degree sexual abuse. 18-year-old student Princekumar Joshi is being charged with recording illegal sexual images of a minor.
Note: An earlier version of this story mistakenly said the McCracken County Sheriff’s Office dropped the charges. The sheriff’s office directed WKMS News to the following release from the County Attorney. The story has been corrected. ?
3/4 Note: This story has been further updated to clarify the charges. Bowland only faced one charge, while Ceglinski faced two charges.
