Plea Offers On Table In McNinch Cases
(Photo by Shelley Hanson) Trending
MOUNDSVILLE -- Two women facing felony criminal charges related to the alleged abuse of an autistic McNinch Primary School student had their cases continued Thursday in Marshall County Circuit Court.
Former kindergarten teacher Kiersten Moses and school administrator Erin Cuffaro both appeared before Marshall County Circuit Court Judge Richard Wilson in separate hearings.
Moses has been offered a plea deal by the state, represented by Marshall County Prosecutor Joe Canestraro. She is slated to appear before Wilson again at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 5 for a status hearing.
Moses, a former McNinch Primary School teacher, was charged with 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. She was originally arrested for allegedly grabbing a 6-year-old student with nonverbal autism by the neck and squeezing. During the investigation, it was discovered that Moses allegedly battered a second student. Three of the counts of battery on a disabled child stemmed from the original alleged incident. The fourth came from an alleged incident involving the second student.
Cuffaro also has been offered a plea deal by the state but still must discuss it with her attorney. She is scheduled to appear before Wilson for a status hearing Oct. 5 as well.
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 also was 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 her case.
Moses’ attorney is Braden Noon. Cuffaro’s attorney is Dean Makricostas. Attorney Daniel Taylor temporarily represented Cuffaro on Thursday because Makricostas was recently involved in a vehicle accident and is recovering.
A third defendant in the case, former McNinch principal Jane Duffy, is facing one misdemeanor count of failure to report child abuse or neglect. Duffy’s case is pending in Marshall County Magistrate Court.
According to the original criminal complaint against Moses in December 2025, a West Virginia state trooper was investigating a complaint made Oct. 8, 2025, regarding the 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. The trooper also reviewed video from Sept. 16, 2025, that showed Moses standing behind the girl, grabbing her arms and pulling them in a crisscross 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 it to Cuffaro. According to the complaints, both reviewed 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 that 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.