Texas School District Maintenance Director Arrested on Child Sex Crime Charge

Arrest of a School Employee Puts a Small Texas District on Alert

Larry Plant served as the maintenance director for Martin's Mill ISD in Van Zandt County — a role that placed him at the heart of a small, tight-knit school community. That position came to an abrupt end when law enforcement came knocking. On July 7, 2026, deputies with the Van Zandt County Sheriff's Office, working in coordination with the Texas Attorney General's Office Fugitive Apprehension Unit, served a felony arrest warrant on Plant.

Larry Lance Plant was arrested on a charge of indecency with a child by sexual contact, a second-degree felony, on a warrant out of Dallas County. Plant was booked into the Van Zandt County Jail on July 7 and released the next day on a $20,000 bond. The charge carries serious consequences — indecency with a child by sexual contact is a second-degree felony punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison.

A Multi-Agency Operation and a District Caught Off Guard

The arrest was made after Plant was found by members of the Texas Attorney General's Office Fugitive Apprehension Unit and deputies from the sheriff's office. The involvement of a state fugitive apprehension unit signals that this was not a routine local matter — investigators had been actively tracking Plant. The Martin's Mill ISD administration was immediately notified of the operation and fully cooperated throughout the process, with Sheriff Kevin Bridger stating, "This arrest is another example of the working relationships between law enforcement agencies and our local institutions."

Superintendent Derek Driver notified the Martin's Mill ISD community on July 7 that an unnamed employee had been arrested, saying district administrators were "cooperating fully with law enforcement and state agencies" and "taking all appropriate measures to address this incident." Online records show Plant joined Martin's Mill ISD in the 2024-25 school year, having previously worked transportation and maintenance jobs in Kaufman ISD and Crandall ISD. Martin's Mill ISD is a two-school district located in Van Zandt County southeast of Dallas.

A Troubling Pattern Across Texas Schools

This case is far from an isolated incident. In the past few years, hundreds of Texas school employees have been accused of sex crimes involving students and other children, and thousands have been reported to the Texas Education Agency for sexual misconduct. The TEA's Educator Misconduct Reporting Dashboard shows that the agency is currently investigating more than 2,400 sexual misconduct complaints and opening an average of 260 new cases each month.

According to TEA data, the agency has opened 441 sexual misconduct investigations so far in fiscal year 2026, compared to 303 in fiscal year 2025 — a nearly 50% increase. "Inappropriate relationship" investigations have more than doubled statewide this fiscal year, rising from 579 investigations in fiscal year 2025 to 1,465 in fiscal year 2026. The agency recently launched expanded misconduct tracking tools and appointed Texas' first Inspector General for Educator Misconduct following pressure from lawmakers to strengthen oversight of school employees accused of misconduct involving children.

What This Means for Parents and Communities

The Plant case is a reminder that threats to student safety don't come only from classroom teachers. Maintenance directors, coaches, bus drivers, and other non-teaching staff all have regular access to children — and background check systems don't always catch every risk. The TEA is averaging more than 2,100 criminal history alerts each month on Texas school employees who are arrested or have their criminal histories updated. That volume alone underscores how widespread the problem has become.

With the TEA's new oversight tools now in place and inter-agency cooperation clearly operational — as seen in the coordinated effort to apprehend Plant — Texas authorities appear more determined than ever to close the gaps that allow accused individuals to remain in or near schools. Whether those systems prove sufficient will depend on how quickly districts act when red flags emerge, and how seriously communities demand accountability from every employee who walks through a school's doors — not just those standing at the front of a classroom.