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Partners to Teach at 2022 IAVM Academy for Venue Safety & Security

McCathern Partners Ty Sheaks and Joseph “Joey” Sampson will return as faculty this spring at the 2022 Academy for Venue Safety & Security, conducted in-person by the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM). The 2022 edition of this prestigious academy will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada from February 27 through March 4. McCathern’s attorneys […]

Attorneys Honored as D Magazine 2022 Best Lawyers Under 40

McCathern is proud to announce that Dallas Partners Stephanie M. Almeter and Jesse Cromwell were named to the 2022 edition of D Magazine’s Best Lawyers Under 40 list. The list is published in the January 2022 issue of D Magazine, and it recognizes many of the best young attorneys in the North Texas region. D […]

McCathern Law Firm Profiled in Forbes and Fortune Magazines

The December/January issues of Forbes and Fortune magazines printed for the North Texas market feature a profile of McCathern as part of a section of profiles of select Dallas law firms. The profile includes a brief history of the law firm and the thoughts of founding partners Levi McCathern, Arnold Shokouhi, Carl Evans, and Paul […]

Kelli Hawley to Speak at DRI Construction Law Seminar

McCathern Los Angeles Partner Kelli Hawley will be speaking at the 2022 DRI (Defense Research Institute) Construction Law Seminar coming up in Austin, Texas on January 26-28, 2022. The 2022 event will be the DRI’s first in-person seminar in two years, and as always it will inform participants on trends in housing stock, infrastructure, new […]

Houstonia Magazine Names Four McCathern Attorneys to Top Lawyers List

Four attorneys from McCathern’s Houston office were recently named to the 2021-2022 edition of the Houstonia Magazine Top Lawyers list. The list recognizes lawyers from the Houston region who are selected through a survey of area attorneys. The Top Lawyers feature appears in the Winter issue of Houstonia as and online at www.houstoniamag.com. The McCathern […]

McCathern Adds Three New Associate Attorneys to Dallas Office

The McCathern law firm is excited to announce the addition of three new attorneys to the Dallas office in Associates Jessica Bland, Samantha Chaiken, and Maddie Kleifield. All three are exceptionally talented recent law school graduates who are prepared to immediately make a positive impact for McCathern clients. Jessica Bland is working on McCathern’s Business […]

McCathern Attorneys Jesse Cromwell and Marianne Robak Named Partners

McCathern is proud to announce that attorneys Jesse L. Cromwell of the law firm’s Dallas office and Marianne G. Robak of the Houston office have been named partners. The Dallas and Frisco offices gathered on the afternoon of Thursday, September 30th for the announcement of Jesse Cromwell making partner. Mr. Cromwell joined McCathern as an […]

Seven McCathern Attorneys Make 2021 Texas Super Lawyers Lists

McCathern is proud to announce that seven attorneys from the firm’s Dallas, Frisco and Houston offices were named by Super Lawyers to its Texas Super Lawyers list for 2021: Rodney Drinnon – Houston Paul Grinke – Frisco Levi McCathern – Dallas Laura Roach – Frisco Ty Sheaks – Frisco Isaac Villarreal – Houston Ronald Wright […]

McCathern Client Sues Past Owners of KAABOO Texas Festival

McCathern Partners Levi McCathern and Brett Chisum are representing a client in a recently-filed suit against the former owners of the KAABOO music and arts festival. The client, Dunhill Festival Fund L.L.C., is suing the co-founders and former owners of the festival, Bryan Gordon and Seth Wolkov, alleging that they mismanaged the festival in its […]

Client of Attorney Scott Becker Injured in Gas Explosion at Plano Home

A client of McCathern Partner Scott Becker was injured during a recent home explosion in Plano, Texas. After initially saying that a gas leak was to blame, officials from the Plano Police Detectives and Fire Marshals are now investigating the cause further to determine whether it was an intentional act. Six people total were injured […]

PROSPER ISD PARENTS QUESTION DISTRICT RESPONSE TO BUS DRIVER ACCUSED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING STUDENTS

December 15, 2025

Author: Rebecca Lopez with WFAA Watch the interview here. PROSPER, Texas — Parents of two young girls who say they were repeatedly sexually assaulted by a Prosper ISD school bus driver are speaking out about what they describe as serious failures by the district — including delayed notification to families and promised safety changes they say were never fully implemented. The parents asked that they not be identified to protect their children, who were just elementary school age at the time of the abuse. In a lawsuit filed in 2023, the girls — identified only as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 — allege former bus driver Frank Paniagua assaulted them repeatedly during the 2021–2022 school year. According to the lawsuit, Paniagua would wait until other students exited the bus, then assault the girls, sometimes holding one child back so he could take her to the rear of the bus. Attorneys say the abuse occurred over several months and was captured on bus surveillance video. How the abuse was discovered The girls’ mother said the abuse came to light after their grandmother noticed troubling comments about gift cards offered by the bus driver. When the mother later questioned the girls again, they disclosed what had been happening. Prosper ISD police reviewed surveillance video from the bus in May 2022. Paniagua was arrested two days later and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and indecency with a child. Paniagua later died after jumping from the second floor of the Collin County Jail while awaiting trial. Concerns about delayed notifications Attorneys for the family say more than 100 days passed after Paniagua’s arrest before Prosper ISD publicly acknowledged the allegations — a delay parents say may have prevented other potential victims from being identified. At a packed school board meeting, Prosper ISD parent Morgan Grahovec, a child psychologist whose daughter attended the same school as the victims, told trustees that delays in notifying parents can have serious consequences. “Children who are victims of abuse need to be identified and interviewed as soon as possible because memory fades over time,” Grahovec said. “The longer you wait, it’s harder to get a child to report abuse accurately.” Parents at those meetings called for Superintendent Holly Ferguson’s resignation, arguing district leaders should have acted sooner and communicated more transparently. Ferguson did not step down, instead promising changes to safety protocols. District response and former statement In an earlier written statement to WFAA, Prosper ISD said it took appropriate action once allegations surfaced: “We are horrified that an employee violated the trust of our families and students, as Prosper ISD’s foremost priority is to protect our students’ safety and well-being at all times. We strongly condemn the actions of any adult who would cause mental or physical harm to a child, and we do not tolerate such behavior.” The district has declined additional comment, citing pending litigation. Disputed claims about safety changes Prosper ISD previously told parents it would implement additional safeguards, including increased supervision during bus drop-offs, a volunteer “bus buddy” program, and improved monitoring of bus surveillance video. But the parents and their attorneys say those changes were not consistently put in place. Attorney Levi McCathern says the district does not regularly review bus surveillance footage — even though video captured the alleged abuse in this case. “You would think the first thing you would do after this happens is change your monitoring program,” McCathern said. “They don’t monitor them at all.” McCathern and co-counsel Kristin Hecker say the lawsuit is aimed at forcing policy changes rather than seeking financial gain. Questions about oversight and leadership The case has also raised broader concerns about district leadership and oversight. Prosper ISD’s school board president later resigned in an unrelated child abuse case, further shaking confidence among some parents. Families have also questioned the independence of the district’s internal review, noting that the law firm hired to investigate the district’s response is also defending Prosper ISD in the lawsuit. “All we want is an independent investigation,” McCathern said. Parents push for accountability and change The parents say their children remain enrolled in Prosper ISD, but they continue to press for reforms they believe could prevent similar abuse. “We want justice for our kids,” the girls’ mother said. “But we also want changes to happen at the district so that this doesn’t happen to other children.”

Author: Matthew Kellogg