A former teacher at a Port Huron Head Start program charged with six misdemeanors pleaded guilty to half of the charges last Monday, April 24.
Originally charged with four charges of assault and battery and two counts of fourth degree child abuse, Cody Williams of Port Huron pleaded to two counts of assault and battery and one count of fourth degree child abuse, for which he will be sentenced on June 2.
Williams originally pleaded not guilty to all six charges during his April 13 arraignment, which stem from an anonymous report last December by a teaching assistant at Blue Water Community Action’s Head Start Program. There, Williams is alleged to have assaulted seven children in the program, which caters to children ages three to five. Williams is no longer employed at the head start program, having been fired along with another teaching aide on December 15, 2022, after a short investigation.
The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Child Protective Services and the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office began individual investigations in late January, with all three agencies teaming up in early March for another investigation, Blue Water Community Action’s Executive Director Melinda Johnson officially informed all families of the matter on March 31, 2023, two days after learning that the St. Clair County Prosecutor’s Office would be pursuing the six misdemeanor charges against Williams.
At a meeting on May 2, the Blue Water Community Action Board of Directors, composed of five regular members and four executive committee members, attempted to decide if Johnson should stay or go. Five board members voted against the director’s firing, and four members voted in favor of firing Johnson.
However, according to the Times Herald, despite the extra vote in favor of keeping the director, the Tuesday night vote’s results do not constitute the needed two-third majority to make a final decision, prompting the board to instead put Johnson on unpaid leave while further investigation and research is done. It is unclear when the board expects to make a final decision.
The St. Clair County prosecutor’s office is still debating whether to charge seven people, including Johnson, for failing to report the abuse as mandated reporters, with County Prosecutor Michael Wendling telling the Times Herald that a decision could come next week, with the case “currently under review.”
