Peoria mothers condemn school district after coach arrested, accused of sexual conduct with minors

Nine concerned Peoria mothers stood outside the Peoria Unified School District building Thursday condemning administrators after a former Peoria teacher and a coach were arrested on charges of sexual conduct with minors in the last month.

The mothers, who said they felt hurt and ignored by the district following the arrests, made their speech on the sidewalk corner outside of the premises because the group was told they could not stand in front of the building. Meanwhile, a district governing board meeting was being held inside the building.

Janelle Wood, a mother and the founder and CEO of Black Mothers Forum, spoke on behalf of the mothers of the Peoria High basketball players whose previous two coaches were accused of sexual relations with minors. One coach was acquitted of all charges this week.

"We are especially outraged by the dismissive, dismissive attitude by the school administration," Wood said.

Earlier this month, Peoria High School basketball coach Patrick Battillo was arrested on suspicion of child sex trafficking charges and asking juvenile students to send him sexually explicit images and videos in exchange for money.

The 37-year-old coached basketball for the school since 2019 and was also a Suns superfan who went by the moniker "Mr. ORNG" at Suns games. Battillo was arrested without incident in Goodyear on April 9.

Wood said the district took two days to alert them of the incident, and by then, most of the mothers had already found out through the media.

"This betrayal has sent shockwaves through our community, leaving us questioning the systems and individuals these families once trusted."

Following the arrest and a police update, Peoria High School principal Landa Tartaglio sent an initial email to parents regarding the arrest of Battillo on Wednesday, April 10, the day after the arrest, as well as a follow up email on Friday, April 12.

What were parents told about the investigation?

In the two weeks following the incident, the mothers said they received little to no updates from the district. They also did not receive plans for the immediate instruction of their sons, many of whom felt nervous and unsafe to return to school, Wood said.

It wasn't until Tuesday that Wood said the mothers received instructions for impacted students to continue their education temporarily online.

An initial email from the principal sent on April 10 alerted parents of the arrests, Battillo's charges and an update on the ongoing investigation, according to the district.

The email read, "The safety and well-being of our students is paramount. Should your child need someone to talk to about what they are feeling, we will have our social worker and members of our counseling team available."

An additional email was sent to parents on April 12 to address the challenging situation and share resources. The message from Tartaglio stated, "Know that our social worker, school counselors and administration remain available for anything they may need." The email encouraged parents to help their children "engage in activities that are healthy, positive, uplifting, and reduce the time spent looking at the news or on social media."

In the statement, Wood alleged their sons were questioned on campus by police without the parents' knowledge following the incident. One student was reportedly taken off campus to a police station to be questioned without prior parental consent, according to Wood.

On Friday morning, Kristopher Babros, spokesperson for Peoria police told The Arizona Republic, "most of the interviews (with students) were done on school campus. The one interview that was not on school campus was our main victim that came forward with everything pertaining to this case."

Babros said the male victim was taken to the police department voluntarily and his mother was contacted before the interview took place, adding that she met police with her son at the police station and cooperated with the investigation.

Babros said that the mother was informed of the information in the interview following its conclusion.

"He was not handcuffed, it was all voluntary," added Babros.

However, the mothers allege the school district is not doing enough for their children.

"Does the district care? Are they empathetic to the needs of their students? Do they understand the trauma that has occurred here? No," Wood said.

"No one from the school district has even called the parents saying, 'How are they?'"

What will happen to the students?

As for their sons, Wood said the mothers are worried for their boys' futures.

"They're worried about their grades; they're worried about their futures. They're not doing well. And that's what really hurts them is that they feel betrayed by the adults that they thought cared about them.

"As mothers, we feel anger. We are infuriated. And we are outraged at the violations these young men had to endure," Wood said.

Danielle Airey, the communications officer for the school district said the district is cooperating with police but does not have access to information related to the investigation, including the identities of the students that were victims.

Airey said she reached out to the organizers of the Black Mothers Forum prior to the Thursday press conference to discuss the mothers' concerns and has reached out via email without a response.

Holly Holgate, 46, a teacher at Peoria High School since 2000, was arrested in conjunction with Battillo after four students on the basketball team approached her and told her about Battillo's inappropriate messages, according to court documents.

Holgate is accused of failing to properly report the allegations to school administrators and police when she went to Battillo first and informed him of the allegations during school hours, which allowed him to leave the school before officers could contact him. She was arrested for hindering prosecution and failing to report child abuse or neglect.

Another Peoria high school basketball coach, Battillo's predecessor, was on trial this month after being charged with six counts of sexual conduct with a minor, and he was acquitted Thursday.

William Roberts III was found not guilty according to an order of release provided by the Maricopa County Superior Court.

In his time working for PUSD, Roberts worked as a substitute teacher, instructional assistant, coach and teacher since 2006 until he was placed on leave in 2019 after the district was “informed that he was being investigated by Peoria police.” He resigned in 2020 for “personal reasons."

"Background checks and fingerprinting alone did not protect these basketball players from the predatory behavior by coach Patrick," Wood said. The district said both Roberts and Battillo underwent background checks and fingerprinting before being hired.

"We will not go quietly away so that you can sweep this under the rug again, like you did when coach Will was arrested on sex crimes a few years back," Wood said.

Upon requesting additional comment on the groups' concerns from the PUSD, the district's community relations contact referenced a press release issued two weeks prior:

"The safety and well-being of our students is paramount. Should a student need someone to talk to about what they are feeling, we will have our social worker and members of our counseling team available."

The Republic's Rey Covarrubias Jr. contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Peoria moms condemn district after coaches accused of misconduct