HUMBLE, Texas – A first-grade teacher in Humble accused of inappropriately touching one of her students is using her own prejudice as a defense, court records show.
Irene Esther Stokes, 61, was arrested last Thursday and charged with indecency with a child following allegations that she touched the private area of a 7-year-old girl student at Northwest Prep Academy in Humble.
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According to court documents, the first grader told her mother that her teacher, Stokes, ordered all the other kids out of the classroom on March 1. Once they were alone, the first grader claims Stokes touched her private area over her clothes, investigators said. The student claims that when she told Stokes to stop, she was kicked out of the classroom and not allowed to take a test with classmates, according to court records.
The girl also claims that Stokes refused to let her eat lunch that day, investigators said.
The school's principal provided Humble police with a cafeteria printout that indicated that the student did eat breakfast on March 1, but not lunch, court records show.
Stokes has denied the allegations despite reportedly failing a polygraph test. She also told investigators, court records show, that she "doesn't like to touch the black students because she was prejudice." Stokes went on to tell investigators that she has very little to no interaction with the alleged victim and denied ever being alone with the first grader.
Northwest Prep Academy said Stokes has been fired.