Inset: Tounya Wright (Durham Public Schools). Background: Eno Valley Elementary School in Durham, North Carolina (WNCN).
An elementary school principal in North Carolina was indicted after she allegedly misled and lied to cops during their investigation into a teacher's aide tying a 6-year-old girl with autism to a chair with a jump rope.
Tounya Wright, 60, was indicted last week on three counts of obstructing justice and one count of perjury. The investigation centered around photos Wright received in November 2024 that depicted the girl tied to the chair at Eno Valley Elementary School in Durham.
Cops allege Wright lied about how she received the photos and who took them. According to a warrant, Wright initially told cops she received the photos after someone anonymously slipped them under the door. This wasn't true, and Wright, along with other administrators, participated in a "coordinated effort to deflect liability," the warrant stated.
In fact, authorities say, a janitor secretly snapped the photos and sent them to a secretary who then texted them to Wright. Cops also say Wright lied about when she received the photos. She actually received them days earlier. In North Carolina, school staff must immediately contact law enforcement when informed of potential child abuse.
Two teacher's aides allegedly involved in the incident resigned in December 2024. One was arrested for child abuse and other charges. But cops later interviewed the janitor who took the photos, and she said the arrested aide was not at school on the day she took the photos. This led investigators to believe the aide could have been wrongfully accused. Prosecutors dropped the case in November.
The indictment says Wright's actions were "done with deceit and intent to defraud, and in secrecy and malice."
"In summary, Principal Wright's credibility is undermined by her shifting explanations regarding how she received the incriminating photo of the victim, the timing and method of her reporting the incident to Human Resources and law enforcement, and her knowledge of the source of the photo," police wrote in the warrant. "Her accounts conflict not only with each other but also with testimony and documentation from other witnesses, particularly regarding the chain of custody for the photo and the identity of the initial reporter."
Two other administrators, Tanya Janique Giovanni, a deputy superintendent, and Ayesha Hunter, senior executive director of employee relations, also were indicted on obstruction charges.
Wright resigned as principal, local NBC affiliate WRAL reported. She has a court date set for Feb. 5.