By Deanna Sipe
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BURKE COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — A civil complaint accuses several Burke County public school officials of failing to protect students after a third-grade teacher was sentenced for sexually abusing dozens of children over the course of a decade.
The complaint comes after former third-grade teacher Michael Andrew Alexander was arrested and convicted of sexual offenses involving children in 2012. According to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, he’s serving a 49.5-year sentence for first-degree sexual offense with a child and indecent liberties with a child.
The civil complaint, which was filed on Oct. 24, 2025, by one of Alexander’s victims (Ms. Jane Doe), accuses former Hildebran Elementary School principal Wendi Craven, the school board, and former school administrators David Burleson and Kathy Amos of having knowledge of the abuse and not investigating.
Amos is the current superintendent of Yancey County Schools. As previously reported, Amos was named in a federal civil suit from 2013 filed by parents but was later dropped from the case. Since being dropped by the previous lawsuit, she continued teaching at Burke County Schools until she accepted the position of Yancey County Schools Superintendent in 2019.
In 2019, Amos was met with opposition as parents did not want her to take office. Parents created a petition that circulated online to prevent Amos from taking office.
The complaint says that Amos and Burleson knew about complaints from a student’s mother during the years of 2004-2005, alleging that Alexander “had taken unauthorized, deviant photographs of her child while in school at Glen Alpine, requiring her to pose alone, pull back her blouse, roll up her pant legs, and wear a wig.” The complaint said Alexander would film and upload images of the abuse online for “other sexual deviants around the world” to see.
The complaint also says Amos and Burleson chose to remain indifferent to the claims, conducted no investigation, placed none of the complaints into Alexander’s file, and continued to let Alexander teach and transfer to Hildebran Elementary School in the 2005-2006 school year.
According to the civil case, Alexander was placed under the supervision of Hildebran Principal Wendi Craven, and Craven allegedly ignored Alexander’s affection for the female students at Hildebran.
“Defendant Craven also failed to supervise Alexander’s presence at the school before, during, and after school hours, giving him free rein to isolate and abuse students,” court records said. The civil case claims that Amos and Burleson “did nothing to inform Defendant Craven” and that Craven “did not inquire into Alexander’s history when he was hired at Hildebran, performing no interview, background check, reference check, nor inquiry with either.”
The complaint says that Amos, Craven, and Burleson were obligated by law and the school district’s regulations to protect students, and that despite complaints and their own observations, they chose not to investigate, report, document, or follow up on complaints of misconduct about Alexander, creating a dangerous situation for students under his care.
According to court records, the complaint states that the school board also refused to offer counseling, assistance, or information to Ms. Doe following Alexander’s arrest in 2012.
“Before the sexual assaults and abuse began, Ms. Doe was a bright and eager young student who was academically advanced relative to her peers. Ms. Doe has been severely traumatized by physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. She suffers ongoing emotional distress and post-traumatic stress that has had a pronounced effect on her relationships, academic performance, career, and daily life,” the complaint said.
The complaint claims the school board is in violation of the following:
Violation of the Educational Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) Violation of the Educational Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) Deprivation of Educational Property Rights – Special Relationship Deprivation of Educational Property Rights – State-Created Danger Deprivation of Educational Property Rights – Failure to Train Deprivation of Right to Bodily Integrity – Special Relationship Deprivation of Right to Bodily Integrity – State-Created Danger Deprivation of Right to Bodily Integrity – Failure to Train Violation of North Carolina Constitution, Article I, 19 Deprivation of Educational Property Rights Violation of North Carolina Constitution, Article I, 19 Deprivation of Right to Bodily Integrity Violation of North Carolina Constitution, Article I, 15 Deprivation of Right to Education Amos, Craven, and Burleson are accused of violating the following:
Violation of 42 U.S.C. 1983 Deprivation of Educational Property Rights – Special Relationship Violation of 42 U.S.C. 1983 Deprivation of Educational Property Rights – State-Created Danger Violation of 42 U.S.C. 1983 Deprivation of Educational Property Rights – Failure to Train Violation of 42 U.S.C. 1983 Deprivation of Right to Bodily Integrity – Special Relationship Violation of 42 U.S.C. 1983 Deprivation of Right to Bodily Integrity – State-Created Danger Violation of 42 U.S.C. 1983 Deprivation of Right to Bodily Integrity – Failure to Train Violation of North Carolina Constitution, Article I, 19 Deprivation of Educational Property Rights Violation of North Carolina Constitution, Article I, 19 Deprivation of Right to Bodily Integrity Violation of North Carolina Constitution, Article I, 15 Deprivation of Right to Education State Law Claims The civil complaint accuses Alexander of the following: Violation of 42 U.S.C. 1983 Deprivation of Educational Property Rights Violation of 42 U.S.C. 1983 Deprivation of Right to Bodily Integrity State Law Claims
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Kaushal Niroula
