Clinton David Brink, 43 & Cristen Amanda Brink, 41 found on trail - Devil's Den State Park, AR- 26 July, 2025 #3 *Arrest*

[AngTxGal]

There are two different types of investigations and charges:

A. Criminal (guilt beyond a reasonable doubt).
B. Administrative (.does not require guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Rather level of evidence is decided by each state or national review board.)

An administrative investigations would be needed to find creeper allegations credible. Administrative revocations f BAR membership, medical licensenses and teachers certificates include rebuttal and appeal possibilities for the accused.

The Lewisville children were not ignored. Rather, the investigators determined that no criminal behavior as defined by the Texas Penal Code had occurred. One can radiate creepiness in a school setting each and everyday and never commit a single criminal act

I think people are responding assuming the law in their state and the rules of their own profession must apply to Texas and the teaching profession. They do not.
No one has suggested a teacher be fired and have license removed for being creepy.
What you have suggested is exactly that. As you’ve suggested admin investigate. Education Admin does not have the authority to do so.

I know the law and process in Texas. I have no idea what it is in your state.
Lewisville ISD is in Texas.

No Such reporting process exists that includes an ‘internal investigation’ by a principal or school district admin for cases of suspected child abuse or neglect in Texas. NONE

Not in Texas, Oklahoma, or Arkansas- all three use a Mandatory Reporting process.

School Administrators do not have the authority to interview children regarding abuse or neglect, nor do they have the authority to question suspected perps.
Nor do they have the authority to determine the status of a teachers’ credentials.
These people are professionally trained mandatory reporters- they are not investigators. I am one of these people.
To maintain my professional license I have attended training on this topic every single year since the late 1980’s. It is part of teacher prep programs, part of continuing education, and every professional is mandated- and receives a certification for training as proof.
Teachers are not the only ones trained in the signs, law, and process- all of these professions must receive training- educators, child care providers, health care professionals, institution workers, social workers, foster parents, laws enforcement, attorneys who deal in family law.

This is the hotline/ website for Mandatory Reporting in Texas
Training materials are online for free, and can also be purchased for districts to use.

The Problem: This principal in Lewisville received complaints from parents. Then I suspect they called AJM into their office and told him about the complaints. Then told him to stop it. He said, Ok. No report was made to CPS/ Family Protective Services, no investigation happened so LE was never unaware. What did AJM do? He resigned.

How do I know CPS and LE were never involved in Lewisville? None of the parents coming forward to the press has mentioned CPS or LE. None have said their child was questioned by anyone. That happens when a report is made, the parents would be aware.

STEP 1 A person suspects child abuse or neglect

STEP 2 Call Made/ Report Made- Parent or Principal or any person who suspects calls the number or fills out of report. This can be anonymous. If they give their name they may be interviewed over the phone or make a statement or written report in person.
I’ve called five times and made a report, given my name and credentials and been interviewed.

At this step school admin can dismiss a teacher who does not have tenure, even before CPS investigates.

STEP 3 CPS receives call and investigates to see if there is evidence for a criminal investigation. Degreed social workers and counselors professionally trained to investigate such situations and talk to the children. If CPS determines that there is evidence to involve Law Enforcement then all of these documentation is turned over to LE.
At this step the professional licensure is contacted, for teachers this is Texas Education Agency. Using the evidence collected by CPS they determine licensure. A teaching license can be revoked based on evidence obtained by CPS- there does not need to be criminal charges.

STEP 4 Law Enforcement receives call from CPS and documents and then investigates for criminal charge

STEP 5 Due Process

Furthermore, in Texas and Oklahoma… every person is a Mandatory Reporter. It is not limited to people who are trained as part of their employment/ license. But if I call, the report carries more weight because I am trained.
Who is a mandatory reporter in Texas? Every person, a person younger than 18 can call.

This means, for Lewisville… the principal should have told the parents that if they suspect they should can report. Then the principal using the info from the parents should have reported. The responsibility of the principal to call is not absolved if they tell parents that they can call. In this case the principal didn’t even inform the parents that it is right to do so, and didn’t call.

Check out the law and process and docs, at the blue links.
Most all of it is explained online. I’ve posted links to government websites with info several times

My apologies for the novel, it terrifies me to be realizing how many people seem to not know how this process is supposed to work. To me that means a lot of reports have gone unreported.

IMO

 

[AngTxGal]

Yikes!!!!!!

This would never occur to me.

In my school and I think most schools here have separate bathrooms for teachers, lock and key.

The only time I would enter a girls’ student bathroom is if I passed by and heard kids just hanging out, so I’d chase them back to their classrooms. Cell phones were banned in my school by the third principal we had during my time there, but kids in different classes would make plans earlier to meet…they’d each tell whichever teacher they had that they needed the bathroom but it was prearranged that they’d go at the same time.

I know because other kids told me.

I cannot even imagine male teachers at urinals next to students.

JMO and experience.

In Texas it depends on where you are. Small towns are different from big cities, old facilities are different from new facilities, and public schools are different from private schools.

In the school where my kids attended. One of the buildings had a single set of restrooms each with 5 stalls, plus the urinals in the boys. Students, teachers, and people like parents or visitors in the building shared the same restroom. No lock and key.

Church schools are one of the most lax I’ve seen. We used church gyms for practice when I coached volleyball for YMCA. Some churches have a gym that is used for church members and students in their small school and it has open access to the auditorium lobby or doors that opened directly outside to the public parking lot. It may be also be accessible from a school portion of the building. Often times we had adult church members using one side of a double-court gym. The dressing rooms may have people of all ages when our teams would arrive to practice. I never allowed the girls to go to the bathroom or dressing rooms alone.
Churches really should use a school architect when they add on, or build new facilities- to me they are terribly designed. There is no thought to the dangers little children may face during a church league basketball game with teams and parents from out of town all using the gym and bathrooms at the same time.

Many gyms have PE dressing rooms with restrooms.
If the school district is large enough the elementary school has its own gym.
But if the district is small- the gym and dressing rooms may be shared by elementary school, middle school, and high school. So MS and HS boys may pass elementary boys in these spaces.

IMO

 

[Inthedetails]

Upcoming:

On Thursday, AM will be in court.

Andrew James McGann will next enter a plea to those two charges of capital murder. He will be represented by a public defender.

McGann's next court date was scheduled for August 25, but it was moved up to August 14.

Court date moved up in Devil's Den killings case: Here's what comes next

A teacher has been charged with killing a couple hiking with their kids in Arkansas. Here's what comes next:

www.4029tv.com

 

[mickey2942]

@AngTxGal good explanation of why bad teachers, just keep getting back in the classroom, and also why child abusers, perpetrate on kids for decades, before they finally get caught.

In this case, parents complained, to the Principal, who told McGann, who just quit. No investigation, no mess or bad press, just push the guy down the road to another school district. The Catholic Church did this for decades, until it caught up to them.

 

[Onlyguessing23]

I don’t remember if anyone suggested this earlier, but given the large size of the bag he was wearing/carrying, and the varying descriptions (empty, something heavy in it…) could it have been a sabre? Or sword? We don’t know many specifics about the cause of death.

 

[SMK777]

I don’t remember if anyone suggested this earlier, but given the large size of the bag he was wearing/carrying, and the varying descriptions (empty, something heavy in it…) could it have been a sabre? Or sword? We don’t know many specifics about the cause of death.

It may have been!

 

[AngTxGal]

RS&BBM
Well, at the risk of being too graphic, I think you can physically and easily stab someone in the chest from behind. An ambush from behind, one arm grabs the victim's body and arms and pulls them tight to the perp's chest, while the perp's other arm stabs the victim in the chest.

Of course this would only work if the perp acts with haste and precision and the victim is stunned and cannot defend themselves. But if the victim is able to disrupt that intended strike, then a fight ensues. And if a partner is nearby, unbeknownst to the perp, as @Hexe just opined, then it's messy.

IMO

I don’t see that it would be easy to stab someone in the chest from behind. I’m missing it.

To me that is like choosing to eat an ice cream cone from the bottom up.
Yeah, it may be possible, but if I saw someone doing it… I may let them know there is a better way.

IMO

 

[AngTxGal]

@AngTxGal good explanation of why bad teachers, just keep getting back in the classroom, and also why child abusers, perpetrate on kids for decades, before they finally get caught.

In this case, parents complained, to the Principal, who told McGann, who just quit. No investigation, no mess or bad press, just push the guy down the road to another school district. The Catholic Church did this for decades, until it caught up to them.

Exactly- it is called Passing The Trash

 

[Arkay]

Exactly- it is called Passing The Trash

Yes. In my state (NY), Passing the Trash really comes into play only once a teacher has achieved tenure. In my day that took three years, and now it is four.

That gives a principal and the school system plenty of time to determine if a teacher is capable and reliable, as well as deeply knowledgeable in his or her subject area.

Yet there are teachers who have achieved tenure but then the principal comes to feel he or she is not achieving desired outcomes, or cannot control a classroom. Or a new principal comes in and has a different view of a teacher than did the former principal.

A tenured teacher in NY cannot be fired without going through a LONG, union- backed process. However, principals can sometimes cheat the system. Within the 31 districts in NYC, the administrators in each district know one another, and they all know the district Superintendent, because that’s the person who chose each principal.

Then they play a little game. Sort of a trade—-if you take my lousy Social Studies teacher, I’ll take a teacher you don’t like. They manipulate the system by claiming that their school population requires one fewer Social Studies teacher and they cut that position, then they do their trade.

It’s all its own “good ole boy” network, despite its being NYC. Each district is sort of its own town.

I know this because I’ve seen it happen, and I’ve always gotten along well with each principal I’ve had over my 25 years. I just went to a baseball game the other day with one of my former principals and other retirees, and they laugh about it now.

Long Island in NYS has this kind of switcheroo also. That’s a coveted job because they pay even more than the city.

Upstate NY is still covered by the NYSUT Union, but they don’t have the benefit we have of the city teachers union, the UFT. Very politically powerful.

All this to once again say that I can fathom how AJM went from school to school.

I CANNOT fathom why nothing was done to permanently exclude this clearly unacceptable man from being in any classroom. Any classroom, anywhere.

JMO and experience.

 

[Charlot123]

I hope not.

Rather than going after local principles, I think there should be an office in Austin with the authority to fast track the revocation of teacher certificates for persistent creepers.

Maybe....

- Hey Administrators! Got a creeper problem and the criminal investigation turned up no evidence of true criminal activity? We don't want him in the profession either.

- Call this Austin Hotline with a detailed (key, very key, word) description of his creepy behavior. We will review, it and determine if his certificate should be revoked permanently via an administrative process "Jimmy Johns" fast.

- But.... if we catch you providing demonstratively false info to the hotline, we are going to consider revoking your certificate. The creeper Hotline is not the place to purse personal grudges, or to "get even". Also don't waste our time with: I don't creepers- and I don't like teacher "T". So, T must be a really bad creeper. type "logic".

I don’t think that punishing schools is conducive to the goal, find out why? And were there prior murders? He did not kill these people on the trail because he was a teacher. He’d do the same if he were unemployed and lived in another place.

The situation is such that the schools would clam up, and we need the opposite. Maybe parents or teachers might remember some random things that he said, places that he mentioned.

 

[Motherofvoids16]

The accusations were made by multiple families. At least three mothers from Texas spoke to the media about it. It was reported to the school, too. Multiple children witnessed it.

If dad was the only target, what was the motive? How come he didn't target someone who was on the trail alone? If both parents were targets, what were his plans for the children?

No, only the Polyaks. Another mom stated he seemed "off", but that is all. Another said he was her son's favorite teacher and the son started wearing polo shirts because "that is what Mr. Mcgann wears."

 

[Motherofvoids16]

I don’t think that punishing schools is conducive to the goal, find out why? And were there prior murders? He did not kill these people on the trail because he was a teacher. He’d do the same if he were unemployed and lived in another place.

The situation is such that the schools would clam up, and we need the opposite. Maybe parents or teachers might remember some random things that he said, places that he mentioned.

I agree. We need to focus on what we KNOW to be true - the pedo angle is not only speculation, but a distraction.

 

[Hexe]

No, only the Polyaks.

Not true.

https://nypost.com/2025/08/01/us-news/devils-den-killer-andrew-james-mcgann-was-pretty-cold-teacher

Marcum, whose son was in McGann’s class at Donald Elementary School in Flower Mound, Texas, in 2023, reported some of McGann‘s behavior to a principal after the boy came home from school upset, she said. “Eventually he told me that he and some other classmates had noticed that Mr. McGann was very touchy and showed a lot of favoritism to certain girls in the class,” Marcum said, without elaborating.

Teacher had 'history of disturbing behavior with girls' before 'killing couple'

One dad, whose son was in the suspect's fourth-grade class in Donald Elementary, told the New York Post that McGann would "usually be surrounded by kids, especially little girls," would "tickle and ask girls to sit on his lap."

...and so on and so forth.

 

[indicolite22]

No, only the Polyaks. Another mom stated he seemed "off", but that is all. Another said he was her son's favorite teacher and the son started wearing polo shirts because "that is what Mr. Mcgann wears."

Not true. The Polyaks weren't even the first. Another mother's name is Sierra Marcum. She gave a nearly seven minute interview about her own son's experience of AM grooming his female classmates:

 

[Inthedetails]

Not true. The Polyaks weren't even the first. Another mother's name is Sierra Marcum. She gave a nearly seven minute interview about her own son's experience of AM grooming his female classmates:

Bottomline seems to be he was not a good teacher. His career was not sustainable, imo.

So, did he realize that? Did he care? Did his professional failure factor into the day on the trail?

jmopinion

 

[SMK777]

Bottomline seems to be he was not a good teacher. His career was not sustainable, imo.

So, did he realize that? Did he care? Did his professional failure factor into the day on the trail?

jmopinion

It may have been a big factor in giving up, and being in a "nothing left to lose" frame of mind.

 

[indicolite22]

It may have been a big factor in giving up, and being in a "nothing left to lose" frame of mind.

But he was just hired for a new position. Brand new start. Would he have lashed out sooner had he lost his license?

 

[Inthedetails]

But he was just hired for a new position. Brand new start. Would he have lashed out sooner had he lost his license?

Part of me wonders if he received bad news, whether regarding his new job, finances, or something else. Rejections on dating sites? Did specific something set him off, when he was already susciptible to blow up?

And part of me wonders if he couldn't wait for school to start to see little girls.

idk

jmo

 

[Hexe]

But he was just hired for a new position. Brand new start. Would he have lashed out sooner had he lost his license?

Looking for job is stressful. Very stressful. And of course he had to behave nicely during the interviews. That might create a lot of pebt up anger.

 

[PunishThenForgive]

I haven’t seen any updates about AM’s possible involvement in the similar case in Wisconsin:

Now, investigators in Sauk County, Wisconsin, are re-examining the Oct. 14, 2020, stabbing of 24-year-old John Schmutzer, who was killed while hiking alone at Devil’s Lake State Park. DNA collected at the time ruled out other suspects, but no arrest was made.

Source

Assuming the DNA collected in Wisconsin belongs to Schmutzer’s killer, couldn’t LE quickly rule AM out or in by comparing the Wisconsin DNA to his DNA collected in Arkansas?