Assault charges dismissed on 11-year-old Hays CISD student

Charge dropped against 11-year-old Hays CISD student

FOX 7 Austin has obtained video of what some called assault at a Hays CISD elementary school involving a student and a counselor. The student?s father is now speaking out -- saying the case has been nothing more than a witch hunt against his child. FOX 7 Austin?s Alec Nolan has more in this 7 On Your Side.

KYLE, Texas - Assault charges are being dismissed against an 11-year-old Hays CISD student.

What we know:

Back in May, a surveillance camera at Science Hill Elementary captured the boy appearing to bump into a school counselor while walking.

FOX 7 was able to obtain the video from the boy’s father, Bobby Lowe, who says the case has been nothing more than a witch hunt against his child.

"There’s no assault on that video," Lowe said. "What were the SROs looking at to file these charges?"

Lowe says the school’s principal and student resource officer filed a criminal complaint with the Hays County Sheriff’s Office after reviewing the video.

The school district claimed that based on the Texas Education Code, the criminal charges filed against the 11-year-old required a mandatory transfer to a disciplinary school where the boy was eventually sent to.

"They don’t like mom and dad," Lowe said. "The only thing I can figure is retaliation because they can’t come after mom and dad, so they went after the kid."

On Aug. 29, Lowe finally got his hands on the surveillance video after filing a request with the Hays County Sheriff’s Office.

On Sep. 2 – the same day FOX 7 started investigating – the Hays County District Attorney’s Office informed Lower that the charges against his son were being dismissed.

Lowe believes the district dragged out this process just to put his son in the disciplinary school. He says he’s thankful to see his son vindicated, but is still in disbelief with the school district’s actions.

"That kid is 11 years old man," Lowe said. " If they wanted to punish me that’s fine but my kid is 11 years old."

The other side:

FOX 7 reached out to Hays CISD for a statement:

"We can’t discuss an individual student’s educational record because of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act… there were no school district policy violations or adverse personnel actions related to the handling of this matter."

FOX 7 also reached out to the Hays County Sheriff’s Office but have not heard back.

What's next:

In terms of next steps for the Lowe family, the boy’s father says he is considering taking legal action.