Parents of Union Grove students involved in ‘invasive recording’ tell different stories about incident
Published 5:45 am Wednesday, July 16, 2025
GLADEWATER – Weeks before the public knew Union Grove ISD’s superintendent is under investigation, students and parents in the district were hearing rumors about an incident at Union Grove High School that triggered the probe.
On July 2, the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office announced that it was investigating a report that a high school student had taken a video of another student in a bathroom stall, a case of “invasive visual recording.” Officials also announced they were investigating Superintendent Kelly Moore for failing to report the incident to law enforcement.
A statement released by Union Grove ISD Board President Jody Day acknowledged that school board members were aware of the matter and would look into it.
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More details of the incident have surfaced since then, and during a board meeting Monday night, more came to light.
Dozens of district parents attended the meeting at the Union Grove ISD Lion Center, and a handful spoke to trustees about the incident, including Kenneth and Allison Travis, the parents of the student who took the video, and Wes Pullen, the father of the student who was recorded.
The News-Journal is not identifying the students involved because they are juveniles.
The Travises and Pullen agree on this much: A few months ago, the Travises’ son used his cell phone to take a video of Pullen’s son while he was in a bathroom stall at school. The Travises admit that what their son did was wrong.
Everything that has happened since then, however, has been the subject of contention and disagreement. Several weeks after the video was taken, Pullen’s son put a loaded gun to his head and threatened to commit suicide. The reason why he picked up the gun, however, is different depending on whom you ask.
Moore received a photo of Pullen’s son holding a gun to his head – as well as an audio recording by the Travises’ son saying what he had done – in May. But she didn’t report the matter to Upshur County law enforcement for 28 days, something that concerns Pullen and others.
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The Travises, however, say the video recording was merely a case of “trolling” by one friend to another, and they point to the boys’ longstanding friendship. They say Moore did nothing wrong and that people who don’t like her are blowing the situation out of proportion to use against her.
While board members say they can’t comment on the case, Trustee Tim Bower said the situation has been heavy on his heart as a parent. The situation has become an ugly topic on social media, and the district’s students are the ones who will be affected by it.
“There’s 700 students in this campus, and our job is to protect every single one of them,” Bower said after Monday’s meeting. “I think it’d be detrimental to all of our kids if we litigated this on Facebook, because it’s still their school and it’s still their friends. I think that’s lost in this whole thing — it’s becoming not about the kids anymore.”
Pullen and the Travises have their versions of what happened. Here are their stories as they told them to the News-Journal during separate interviews Monday night.
Wes Pullen speaks to members of the Union Grove ISD school board Monday at the Union Grove ISD Lion Center. (Jordan Green/Longview News-Journal Photo)
Pullen’s story
In the spring, the Travises’ son recorded a video of Pullen’s son in a bathroom stall, and Pullen said his son’s genitals were visible. The Travises’ son then sent the video to other boys. Pullen said he isn’t sure whether the incident occurred in March or April.
Several weeks later, Pullen’s son wanted to ask a girl to be his girlfriend, Pullen said. The Travises’ son and Pullen’s son were talking on FaceTime, and Pullen’s son asked the Travises’ son for help talking to the girl. The Travises’ son then “threatened” to send pictures of Pullen’s son from the bathroom video to the girl, Pullen said.
Pullen’s son “was upset, he was hurt, he was embarrassed,” and he held a gun up to his head while on FaceTime, Pullen said. Pullen’s son told the Travises’ son that, if he sent those photos to the girl, he would kill himself.
Pullen said the Travises’ son took a screenshot of Pullen’s son holding the gun and sent the image to other students. The Travises’ son then made an audio clip admitting what he had done to Pullen’s son, and he sent the photo and his audio clip via Snapchat to other students.
A student who received the photo and audio sent that information to an adult, and the adult sent that information to the superintendent on May 15, Pullen said. School was still in session at the time.
On Tuesday, Pullen provided the audio recording the Travises’ son made to the News-Journal, showing that the recording was sent from the Travises’ son via Snapchat to another student.
In the recording, the Travises’ son says he told Pullen’s son: “I was showing everyone your penis,” and he laughed.
The Travises’ son said the two were talking about the girl Pullen’s son wanted to date. Pullen’s son messaged the girl while he was talking with the Travises’ son, and she said she wanted to meet his family before going out.
The Travises’ son then says: “[Pullen’s son] just went silent for five minutes, and I was like, ‘Yeah, [Pullen’s son], I showed her your penis and everything.’ And then he started crashing out, and I got [other student] to troll him, and [Pullen’s son] was bouta [sic] shoot himself.”
The Travises’ son also said in a message to the person he sent the recording: “Don’t say anything.”
Moore contacted Pullen’s ex-wife June 10 and said she had something “disturbing” she needed to show the parents, Pullen said. They met with Moore on June 11 and reviewed the photo and audio. To his knowledge, Pullen said Moore had not seen the bathroom recording.
Pullen asked Moore if she wanted to report the matter to the sheriff’s office or if she wanted him to. Moore replied that she would have to talk with her attorney first, Pullen said. After talking with her lawyer, Moore said the school had no obligation “to do anything” because school was out of session now, according to Pullen. However, Moore said she would forward the information to the sheriff’s office, Pullen said.
Pullen said Moore had the information for 28 days – from May 15 to June 11 – before it was reported.
“I was upset about that. I wanted reasons and answers,” he said. “She had a lot of excuses of why she didn’t report it. Of course, none that were good enough or that made it right.”
Pullen spoke to school board members previously and demanded they take action against Moore, he said. He has not received an apology.
“She needs to be held accountable,” he said. “I don’t personally have anything against Mrs. Moore. I’ve heard that she is a great person, but you can be a great person, and you can still make a mistake, but at the end of the day, that’s a mistake that could have cost my son his life – 20-something days without reporting something like that with a kid holding a gun to his head? That’s what’s bad. That’s scary. Why would you not report something like that immediately?”
Allison Travis speaks to members of the Union Grove ISD school board members Monday at the Union Grove ISD Lion Center. (Jordan Green/Longview News-Journal Photo)
Travises’ story
The Travises admit that their son took the video in the bathroom stall, and they admit it was wrong of him to do so. Kenneth Travis told the News-Journal that his son took the video March 19 and sent it to five boys on Snapchat, but he deleted the video about five minutes after he sent it.
On April 23, the Travises’ son and Pullen’s son were talking on the phone. Pullen’s son asked the Travises’ son for help asking out the girl he wanted to date. While the two boys were talking, Pullen’s son was messaging the girl he wanted to ask out, and she said she just wanted to be friends, Kenneth Travis wrote in an email. Pullen’s son then said he was going to kill himself and put the loaded gun to his head, Travis said.
At the time, another male student was on the call with the Travises’ son and Pullen’s son, Kenneth Travis wrote in an email. The other student took a screenshot of Pullen’s son holding the gun to his head and sent it to the Travises’ son. The Travises’ son then sent that image to the girl Pullen’s son wanted to date and someone else; the Travises’ son wanted to get Pullen’s son help, and he thought the girl might know the Pullen boy’s family, Kenneth Travis wrote.
(Pullen disagrees with the assertion that Travis’ son wanted to help, noting the nature of what their son said in the audio recording. If their son wanted to help, he should have reported the situation, not sent it to other students, Pullen said.)
An adult sent Moore the footage of Pullen’s son holding the gun to his head along with the audio recording of the Travises’ son saying what he had done, Kenneth Travis said. In addressing the audio recording, he said his son was joking with or “trolling” Pullen’s son, not threatening him, when he said he would show everyone his penis. He also said his son was recovering from surgery when he made the audio recording explaining the situation and likely was “under the influence of codeine” and that the clip has been “misinterpreted.”
The Travises said Moore did not receive a copy of the invasive video, so it’s “unfair” to say the school ignored the incident, Kenneth Travis said. His son said the video didn’t show Pullen’s son’s genitals.
“It was childish. He shouldn’t have done it. I’m not advocating, making that be OK. He’s suffered consequences this entire summer,” Kenneth Travis said.
Travis said details of the situation have been left out and that his son and Pullen’s sons were friends before and after the incident, he wrote in an email. He said the two spent time together in June and talked.
He also said: “I’ve done more of the investigation than the damn sheriff’s office has.”
Moore received the audio recording made by the Travises’ son – as well as the photo of Pullen’s son holding the gun – on May 15, Kenneth Travis said. She never saw the footage recorded in the bathroom.
Kenneth Travis said people have lied about his son.
“You can’t frame this stuff up and call my son a bully and do all these things if that’s not what’s happened,” he said. “The framing of it is inaccurate. The timeline is inaccurate. They’re leaving out all the details.”
Travis said people who don’t like Moore are using this incident against her, “and my son’s a pawn in the game, and I don’t like it. It’s upsetting me,” he said.
He also said children across the nation are pulling similar pranks: “If they’re going to persecute him at the level that they’re trying, well, let’s go ahead and line up half the school or more than half because they all do it. They all are guilty of it,” Kenneth Travis said.
‘We have to do right’
Moore came under investigation by the sheriff’s office for “failure to report” the invasive recording incident to law enforcement once she was made aware of it. However, the investigation has not been completed, and no charges have been filed against Moore.
Under Texas law, educators are considered “professional reporters,” meaning they must report suspected crimes against children within 48 hours of their “initial suspicions” of abuse or other crimes, according to the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Texas.
Why Moore didn’t report the photo and audio she received sooner is unknown. School board members, including Day, the board president, have said they cannot comment on the case. Pullen has filed a grievance with the district, which trustees will discuss during the closed session of their August meeting.
Day told the News-Journal after Monday’s meeting that members of the board have no concerns about Moore’s performance. He said Moore has done a good job overall as superintendent.
During Monday’s meeting, several people spoke to trustees, though Day told speakers that they could not discuss the case involving invasive visual recording or name students.
Bower, the Place 6 trustee – who said he was not speaking in his capacity as a board member, but as a parent – said the situation is disheartening. He expressed frustration with social media “attacks” and “hypocrisy” stemming from the incident. He said district leaders will hear Pullen’s grievance “and take the appropriate action when the time’s right, not when the Facebook warriors tell us to do so.”
“I think our community shouldn’t make it worse for these kids,” Bower said. “We have to do right by these kids. We have to do right by the parents that are advocating on behalf of their kids, and we have to be right by Mrs. Moore, too.”
About Jordan Green
Howdy! I'm Jordan Green, a Report for America corps member covering underserved communities in East Texas for the Longview News-Journal. I'm a native Okie and have been a newsman since 2017. Email me at jordan.green@news-journal.com or call me at 903-237-7743.
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