Former Forney principal arrested after teacher charged with abuse, documents say

TEA records show the two previously worked together in Garland ISD, the district where he was tried and later acquitted for indecency with a child.

A Forney ISD elementary school is starting the year under new leadership following the arrest of its principal and a special education teacher.

Arrest documents shed new light on how a formerly charged teacher was hired on at Crosby Elementary before Johnathan Michael was again arrested for abusing a student.

In an arrest warrant obtained by NBC 5, Texas Rangers say it was Crosby’s principal at the time, Wendy Rachel Bailey, who recommended Michael for hire.

It says TEA records show the two previously worked together in Garland ISD, the district where he was tried and later acquitted for indecency with a child.

At that time, Michael’s name was legally Michael Roell.

According to the documents, Bailey said she didn’t know him.

The warrant states that when a district official emailed campuses with Michael’s resume, submitted using his old name, Bailey responded with a mugshot from his 2015 arrest, writing “No thank you lololol. Let’s try again.”

In the days that followed, investigators say phone records and emails show communication between Michael and someone at Crosby Elementary, at times specifying that it was Bailey.

They say the two communicated both before and after he changed his name.

According to the affidavit, Bailey recommended Michael for hire on October 6th, 2025.

On October 6th, 2025, Bailey is said to have recommended Michael for hire.

Then on April 14th, 2026, investigators say two teacher’s aides report to Bailey that Michael had inappropriately touched a child in his classroom.

In response, they say she “decided to move the student and one of the aides to a different classroom. Bailey did not report this to anyone in the district or CPS.”

Bailey's charged with failure to report and endangering a child.

Investigators say at Crosby, Michael was assigned to a classroom with nine students, most of whom were non-verbal, adding he’d “expressed to Bailey an interest in continuing to work with students with communication issues.”

Forney ISD released a statement to NBC 5 on Thursday:

“As this is an active law enforcement matter, we continue to cooperate fully with the investigating agencies.”

Michael is charged with child grooming and two counts of injury to a child.

According to investigators, he’s also been removed from the classroom in both Dallas and Denton ISDs.

Bailey is out on bond.

She denied NBC 5’s request for comment.