photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Raintree Montessori School, 4601 Clinton Parkway, is pictured on Friday, July 8, 2022.

Details of allegations against a former worker at a Lawrence child-care facility are still unclear nearly three weeks after the man was charged with sex crimes — and will remain so, at least in the near term, after a judge on Monday ordered the arrest affidavit in the case to be sealed.

The former worker, Mateo Emilio Clavel Wills, 19, faces four counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child under the age of 14, including two counts against a 3-year-old and two counts against a 4-year-old, according to charging documents in Douglas County District Court. The charges are off-grid felonies, which come with a potential life sentence.

The charges are in connection with Wills’ time working between November 2021 and July 2022 at Raintree Montessori School, 4601 Clinton Parkway.

The Journal-World requested the arrest affidavit on July 7, but Judge Sally Pokorny had yet to release the document or to deny its release by Monday, July 25. An arrest affidavit details the probable cause for arresting an individual. State law requires the court to make a decision to release the affidavit, possibly with redactions, or to seal the affidavit within 10 business days of the receipt of the request. On Monday, Chief Judge James McCabria made the decision to seal the document based on a finding that releasing it “would jeopardize the mental or emotional safety or well-being of the victims and would interfere with any prospective criminal investigation of the matter.”

As previously reported by the Journal-World, parents say they have received little information about the nature of the allegations and about the frequency of interactions that their own children have had with the accused since he was hired.

The Journal-World reached out to Raintree Montessori School with multiple questions about the allegations, including how the allegations came to light and how the situation was being handled with parents and students. The school did not answer any questions, but gave only this response, via Heather Eichhorn, co-head of Raintree:

“Our first and foremost goal is fostering a safe environment and protecting the well-being of our students. Raintree is cooperating fully with authorities during this active investigation, and are following all appropriate KDHE regulations and guidelines.” KDHE refers to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Eichhorn added that “all questions related to the investigation should be directed to the Lawrence Police Department.”

The Lawrence Police Department told the Journal-World that the investigation was ongoing and that because the case involves allegations of sex crimes, no further details would be immediately available.

The school’s email to parents

The school released an email to parents the Friday after the arrest telling parents that the school intended to provide “daily updates” about the investigation along with a timeline of what they knew about the allegations and when they knew it.

According to the email, Lawrence police received a complaint on Friday, July 1, but didn’t inform the school about the complaint until investigators arrived Wednesday, July 6, to question Wills at the school.

Both Raintree and the Lawrence Police Department have declined to say whether Wills was at work on Tuesday, July 5, after the the July 4 long weekend.

The school placed Wills on a leave of absence after “learning the investigation would be ongoing,” and the school received a letter of resignation from Wills shortly thereafter, according to the email.

Police told Raintree administration not to tell parents and staff about the investigation and that the school did not know about Wills’ arrest until the day after, which was Thursday, according to the email.

The school email also detailed the “extensive background check” and KDHE training that employees receive when they are hired. The training includes training on child abuse and neglect.

The email concludes with instructions for parents to contact the Lawrence Police Department for additional questions that parents may have.

Lack of information

Parents have continued to reach out to the Journal-World and have said that they are not receiving regular updates from the school but that police investigators have been working with them to answer some, but not all, of their questions.

One parent, whom the Journal-World is not identifying for privacy reasons, disputed the statement that the school released about whether the police told them to inform parents and staff about the investigation. The parent said an investigator told the parent that the school was instructed to start the process of informing parents as soon as they escorted Wills out of the school after his initial interview.

“The police told Raintree that they should inform parents right away and (police) provided them resources,” she said. The resources were for the Children’s Advocacy Center of Douglas County, 2518 Ridge Court, Suite 200.

The parent also disputes that the school wasn’t aware that Wills was arrested until the next day.

“You (administrators) knew he was getting escorted to the police department,” she told the Journal-World about school administrators.

The parent also wondered whether Wills was subjected to the same process that other Montessori employees had to go through to get hired. She said that Wills’ connection to the school, and the affected classroom, was more personal than other employees’.

Multiple parents have connected Wills with a teacher, or “directress,” of the school, Marcia Granger. The parents said that Granger is Wills’ grandmother. Parents say that Wills was assigned to Granger’s classroom. Police have not publicly released information about whether Wills’ alleged crimes took place in a classroom or elsewhere.

The Journal-World has reached out to Granger and the school to confirm the relationship and has received no response, but court records indicate that Wills’ family lived with Granger in 2020. Granger is also listed as a witness in Wills’ charging document.

In a statement released Monday to the Journal-World, Laurie Roberts, who is managing media inquiries on behalf of Raintree, said:

“Raintree administrators were not made aware of any allegations until July 6, when Lawrence police arrived on campus and began conducting interviews. The police advised their investigation was ongoing, and did not provide the school with further information. The suspect was immediately put on leave. When we learned of the suspect’s arrest, we began notifying parents. All employees at Raintree undergo background checks, reference screening and staff orientation/training. The suspect was a part-time classroom assistant, working in only one classroom, and was supervised by two classroom teachers and administrative floaters.

All of the children in our care at Raintree are precious to us. We have dedicated our lives, for multiple generations, to their safety, security, enrichment and education. Our immediate focus right now is supporting the impacted families and communicating to our current families.”

Talking to kids

Parents of Raintree students have been meeting regularly in groups at the Children’s Advocacy Center with counselors and a representative from KDHE, a parent said. She said that they are learning techniques to talk to their children about secrets and possible abuse.

She said the lessons were helping to reduce her fears that her child was potentially abused but that she still had many questions about how and when her child was interacting with the accused. She said she was worried about transparency in the process.

“It has been so emotionally draining,” she said.

She said that her child would not be returning to the school and that the school still refused to share how often her child was alone with Wills.

Raintree ownership

Raintree Montessori School is a child-care center registered with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and is owned by Kriterion Inc. Owners Lleanna and Keith McReynolds started Kriterion Inc. and Raintree in 1978, according to state business filings.

Raintree, according to its website, is an “independent school for children 18 months through 14 years of age” that focuses on interactive learning for younger children and vocational and social training for older students.

The school is a private, for-profit, corporation owned by the McReynolds, but a nonprofit, Friends of Raintree, was started in 2016 for former students and families to contribute toward staff development, financial aid, special educational services and promotion of entrepreneurship among students, according to its website.

Next court date

Wills is currently being held in the Douglas County Jail on a $750,000 cash bond. His next court date is scheduled for Aug. 17. Wills last appeared on July 13, where his defense attorney, Michael Clarke, asked the court for a continuance to prepare for a preliminary hearing.

Editor’s note: This article was updated with additional information about Wills’ work assignment at Raintree and to clarify that law enforcement has not released details about the location of the alleged crimes.