Defendants In McNinch Primary Child Abuse Case Plead Not Guilty In Marshall County Circuit Court
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MOUNDSVILLE - Two former Marshall County Schools educators allegedly involved in the abuse of an autistic student both entered not guilty pleas Tuesday before Marshall County Circuit Court Judge Richard Wilson.
Marshall County Prosecutor Joe Canestraro said the defendants, Kiersten Moses and Erin Cuffaro, had separate plea hearings; they are not being tried together.
Both are scheduled to appear before Wilson again during separate status hearings slated for 9 a.m. Sept. 17.
"We come back for a status or scheduling conference on Sept. 17 at 9 a.m. to set any motions hearings or evidential hearings or to set a trial date," Canestraro added.
Moses, a former McNinch Primary School teacher, is facing four felony counts of battery on a disabled child, one felony count of child abuse, one felony count of strangulation and misdemeanor counts of maltreatment. Moses originally was arrested because she allegedly grabbed a 6-year-old student with nonverbal autism by the neck and squeezed. During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that Moses allegedly battered a second student. Three of the counts of battery of a disabled child came from the original alleged incident. The fourth came from an alleged incident with the second student.
Cuffaro, director of special programs for Marshall County Schools, is facing nine felony counts of child neglect for allegedly leaving the students in that classroom under Moses' supervision prior to the allegations being reported. Cuffaro was also indicted on two misdemeanor counts: one count of failing to report child abuse or neglect and one count of providing false information to a state trooper.
Moses resigned from her position, while Cuffaro remains suspended without pay pending the outcome of the case.
Moses' attorney is Braden Noon. Cuffaro's attorney is Dean Makricostas.
A third defendant in the case, former McNinch principal Jane Duffy was charged with one misdemeanor count of failure to report child abuse or neglect. Canestraro said Duffy's case is pending in Marshall County Magistrate Court and no new hearings have been scheduled at this time.
Canestraro said there have been no discussions at this point regarding plea deals for any of the defendants.
According to the original criminal complaint against Moses in December 2025, a West Virginia State Trooper was investigating a complaint made on Oct. 8, 2025, of alleged abuse of a McNinch student on Sept. 18, 2025. According to the complaint, Moses allegedly grabbed a 6-year-old girl, who is nonverbal and on the autism spectrum, by the neck with both hands and squeezed.
The incident was recorded on video, according to the complaint, and the trooper reviewed the video. In his report, he said he saw Moses interact with the girl near a door in the special needs classroom. The girl appeared to become agitated and advance toward Moses. Moses allegedly reacted by placing both hands on the child's neck and squeezing for about six seconds.
According to the complaint, a school aide witnessed the incident and took the girl to the nurse's office, where the nurse took photos of red marks on the girl's neck. According to the complaint, the trooper reviewed more video from Sept. 16, 2025, where Moses stood behind the girl, grabbed her arms and pulled them in a criss-cross behind the girl's back "in a needless and uncomfortable position."
According to the complaints against Duffy and Cuffaro, the aide alerted Duffy to the incident and Duffy reported the incident to Cuffaro. According to the complaints, both reviewed the video of the incident.
The trooper asked Duffy why she did not report the incident through the Child Abuse Hotline. Duffy's position makes her a mandated reporter who must report any incident of child abuse within 24 hours. Duffy allegedly showed the trooper a text message from Cuffaro which read, "My day is crazy. She did put her hands on (the student's) neck briefly. Please talk with her about this. Not a verbal reprimand at this point, but tell her to watch putting her hands on children when it is not necessary."
The trooper then spoke to Cuffaro on multiple occasions, according to the complaints. The trooper said Cuffaro told him she did tell Duffy to give Moses a verbal reprimand. When confronted about the text message, Cuffaro allegedly told the trooper she did not send it and offered to show him proof.
According to the complaints, the trooper said it appeared the message had been deleted, as was everything else prior to that specific message. Everything after that specific message remained on the phone. According to the complaints, Cuffaro later admitted to sending the message.