A school official has been imprisoned for allegedly orchestrating a child fight club. Mary Tracy Morrison, 51, who managed the Delta Institute for the Developing Brain and the Engage program in Jonesboro, Arkansas, admitted guilt to charges of permitting child abuse and contributing to juvenile delinquency. The arrest took place in April 2025 following a parent’s report to the police about her son’s mistreatment at the school.
Police discovered incriminating video footage showing Morrison directing a child to sit within a circle of 18 other students, where the child was physically assaulted. The incident, which lasted 30 minutes, involved Morrison encouraging abusive behavior towards the victim. Subsequently, Morrison instructed the victim to apologize to the other students and forbade any discussion of the event.
Morrison received a 30-day jail sentence, followed by 120 days of house arrest with electronic monitoring and nine years of probation. She was also prohibited from working with children professionally, mandated to undergo a mental health evaluation, and had to surrender her occupational therapy license.
Additionally, other school employees, Michael Bean, Kristen Bell, and Katherine Lipscomb, were implicated in the abuse allegations. They were observed not intervening while the abuse took place in the classroom. Lipscomb’s bond was set at $100,000, while Bean and Bell’s bonds were set at $10,000 each, with orders to have no contact with the school or its students.
