A family’s lawsuit against Pembroke Hill School and former teacher Michael Jones has opened a widening story about how abuse allegations were handled at two Kansas City schools.
Missouri’s Children’s Division first substantiated the sexual abuse finding, then reversed it on appeal — and parents at Jones’ previous school say they raised warnings years earlier that went unheeded, The Star found.
Here are the key takeaways:
Lawsuit against Pembroke Hill School
A Jackson County Circuit Court lawsuit filed by the family of a 9-year-old former Pembroke Hill student accuses the private school of negligence and former fourth grade teacher Michael Jones of battery, alleging he groomed and sexually abused the girl during the 2021-2022 school year. Pembroke said its internal investigation and a state inquiry found the allegations unsubstantiated.
Missouri finding on abuse reversed
Missouri’s Children’s Division issued a substantiated finding of sexual abuse against Jones in January 2025, but a Child Abuse and Neglect Review Board reversed that preliminary finding in December 2025, keeping Jones off the state’s Central Registry for Child Abuse and Neglect. The family’s attorney, Christine Dunn, said her clients were never contacted before the ruling was overturned.
Académie Lafayette families raised alarm
Two families say they alerted Académie Lafayette administrators in 2015 and 2016 about Jones’ alleged behavior toward their third grade daughters — including hair braiding, a kiss on the cheek and a “spanking game” at recess — and at least one other parent said he later alerted a Pembroke administrator and board member before Jones was hired there in 2016, according to the Jackson County lawsuit…