McNinch Primary School

The teacher accused of strangling a non-verbal autistic McNinch Primary School student no longer works for Marshall County Schools, according to schools Superintendent Shelby Haines. Meanwhile, the school’s principal and school district’s special programs director currently “are not working” in the district as the investigation continues.

Former teacher Kiersten Moses, McNinch Principal Jane Duffy and Special Programs Director Erin Cuffaro all face charges from incidents that allegedly occurred earlier this year at the school. Moses faces a felony count of strangulation, two felony counts of battery and assault of a disabled child and one count of felony child abuse. Cuffaro faces eight counts of felony gross neglect of child creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury; one misdemeanor count of failure to report child abuse or neglect; one misdemeanor count of obstruction of law enforcement, probation, parole, court security, corrections officer with threats of harm; and one misdemeanor count of interference with officers or members and false information. Duffy faces one misdemeanor count of failure to report child abuse or neglect.

Haines stated in a Monday morning email that Moses is now longer a school district employee. Both Duffy and Cuffaro “are currently not working while the school district continues to cooperate with the West Virginia State Police throughout their investigation.” The email didn’t specify whether their leave is paid or unpaid.

In Duffy’s absence, current Marshall County Commissioner Scott Varner — a longtime Marshall County Schools administrator at both the school and district levels — is filling in as McNinch’s principal.

According to the criminal complaints for the three accused, Moses was accused of putting her hands around the throat of the 6-year-old student and squeezing. A teacher’s aide in the room informed Duffy, who informed Cuffaro, according to the complaints.

Allegedly, neither Duffy nor Cuffaro reported the incident to the Child Abuse Hotline, which is their obligation as mandatory reporters. When questioned as to why she didn’t report the incident, Duffy allegedly showed a state trooper a text message from Cuffaro telling her to just talk to Moses about the incident and not give a verbal warning.

When the state trooper questioned Cuffaro about that, she allegedly told the trooper she did tell Duffy to give a verbal warning and claimed that she never sent the text, showing the trooper her phone.

According to the complaint, the trooper saw that all text messages in Cuffaro’s phone from when that message was sent and earlier had been deleted. Cuffaro allegedly told the trooper later that she did in fact send the text.