Thursday, September 16, 2010
Kemp High School athletic trainer charged with having an improper relationship with a student
By Pearl Cantrell
Monitor Staff Reports
KEMP–Students at Kemp High School are reeling from news that a school employee was arrested Friday and charged with having an improper relationship with a fellow student.
Later that day, the Yellowjackets lost 61-7 against Mineola.
“I won’t use that as an excuse, but I’m sure it was (a distraction) in many ways,” athletic director and football head coach Greg Anderson said Monday morning (see related story in Sports, page 1B).
Kemp High School athletic trainer Eric Cabral, 27, was taken into custody late Thursday night after a Kemp patrol officer checked out a report of a suspicious vehicle.
Crime watchers reported suspicious activity to the Kemp Police Department when they saw a car parked on Tolosa Road near the cemetery.
Sgt. Johnny Law’s investigation revealed Cabral engaged in an improper relationship with a student.
Cabral was charged with a second-degree felony at 12:44 a.m. Friday at the Kaufman Law Enforcement Center and was later released on a $50,000 bond.
Kemp police chief Richard Clemmo told The Monitor that a second improper relationship count was added Friday afternoon, after Cabral said he had also met with the female student on Labor Day.
If convicted, Cabral could face two to 20 years in prison.
The nature of the charges suggests the alleged victim was 17 years of age or older. No information about the victim was released.
“Parents trust educators and coaches to do the right thing,” Clemmo said, adding the student’s parents were “in shock” over the incidents.
Even if the student is considered an adult, a student cannot give consent to be in a relationship with an educator, Clemmo said.
An investigation is continuing to determine whether more charges will be added.
Cabral, who stands six feet tall and weighs 318 pounds, has been employed with the Kemp ISD for two years. He doesn’t teach any classes.
He was hired as a full-time athletic trainer, and worked with student athletes at the junior high and high school, superintendent Dr. Peter Running reported.
“I hope it’s business as usual,” he said of the reaction to the arrest at the school.
“It can’t help but be a distraction to the kids, but we plan on taking care of them the way they deserve to be taken care of,” he said.
Cabral, who was hired after passing a criminal background check and contacts with references, was put on administrative leave, pending an investigation, Running said.
Previously to working at Kemp ISD, Cabral worked as an athletic trainer for Van ISD during the 2008-09 school year.
10th annual Spirit
Week effort raises more than $50K
Monitor Staff Reports
MABANK–Despite a struggling local economy, the 10th annual Mabank ISD Spirit Week
raised more than $50,000 for the newly created MISD Education Foundation.
Originally started as a gesture to raise funds for charity following the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., each Spirit Week has become a
landmark fund-raising event during the week leading up to the annual Mabank High School
homecoming football game. 
Monitor Photo/
Kerry Yancey
Mabank students holding the ceremonial check start running off the Panther Stadium turf
Friday after revealing the 10th annual Spirit Week fund-raising drive garnered $50,040.59
for the newly founded Mabank ISD Education Foundation.
“As a district, we went into this Spirit Week with the knowledge that we were in a
troubled economy, that unemployment and bankruptcy were at all-time highs and that our
normal five-day fund-raising activities would be cut short because of the (Labor Day)
holiday weekend,” district Spirit Week coordinator Tonya Chapman told the crowd at
the pre-game unveiling ceremonies.
“Because this is an anniversary year, and because we chose a beneficiary that would
support the educators and children of our district, the effort of our district and
community is especially heartwarming,” Chapman said.
Campus totals this year were:
• High School $8,213.28,
• Junior High $11,008.77,
• Intermediate $7,255.37,
• Lakeview Elementary $4,277.50,
• Southside Elementary $6,495,
• Central Elementary $15,242.51 and
• administration offices $1,851.
Foundation board members accepting the ceremonial check were Andrea Pickens, Chrissy
Adams, Scott Adams, Dee Ann Owens, Robin Neighbors, Gary Sapp, Jim Thompson, Renee
Hankins, Shannon Steakley and Robert Eubank.
The foundation was created to enable educators to seek grants through the foundation to
provide resources for innovative educational programs.
“On behalf of the Mabank Independent School District, we would like to thank the many
clubs, groups, organizations, businesses and individuals who contributed to making this
Spirit Week such a success,” Chapman said. “A heartfelt thank you goes out to
everyone who participated this week.”
Father shoots son over mother
Monitor Staff Reports
KEMP–A Kaufman County man faces murder charges after his son was shot to death during
an altercation at the family home just outside Kemp Sunday night.
Marcus Russel Sides, 50, remains in the Kaufman County Law Enforcement Center under
$500,000 bond.
The elder Sides is accused of shooting his son, Tyler, 23, when he “became
belligerent” with his mother after a day of heavy drinking, according to a bylined
story in Monday’s edition of The Dallas Morning News.
Tyler Sides was shot in the abdomen and transported to Presbyterian Hospital in Kaufman,
where he was stabilized before being transferred to a Dallas hospital. The younger Sides
later died of his injuries.
Marcus Sides said he was trying to protect his wife from the younger man, who reportedly
had spit on his mother and antagonized her several times during a day-long bout of
drinking.