CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Albemarle County Police said it never instructed former Superintendent Dr. Matthew Haas not to tell school division leadership about the criminal investigation into former staffer Michael Swiney, but did urge the division not to make the investigation public.

“At no point in the investigation did ACPD instruct ACPS that they could not notify internal stakeholders,” ACPD spokesperson Logan Bogert told Cville Right Now on Friday. “As a general practice, when law enforcement is conducting an active criminal investigation, individuals with knowledge of the investigation may be asked to not publicly disclose information that could compromise investigative efforts and/or the privacy of victims involved.”

In January, ACPS contacted ACPD and Child Protective Services about a complaint against Swiney, who worked as a social emotional learning coach at Hollymead Elementary School. At that point, Swiney was placed on administrative leave.

Later that month, Bogert said ACPD, “notified the school principal and HR Director when the first case began in January 2026.” The ACPD investigation subsequently identified multiple other victims.

On June 4, Swiney was arrested and charged with 11 felonies related to sex crimes against children.

During a June 10 public meeting at Hollymead Elementary School, Haas – who has since resigned – told the audience police instructed him not to inform families, even if they had a child who had met with Swiney.

“We were informed that, because this is a criminal investigation, they wanted to maintain the integrity of that,” ACPS spokesperson Jason Grant told Cville Right Now on Friday. “They didn’t want us sharing the information at that time. A criminal investigation was taking place. We didn’t want to obstruct that.”

Bogert added that “internal stakeholders” would include the division’s leadership, but not teachers or families.

It is unclear who other than Haas was notified after Principal Joe McCauley and Albemarle County Deputy Chief Human Resources Officer Brodie Downs were initially told by ACPD about the investigation in January. At that point, Swiney was placed on an administrative leave. McCauley also resigned from his post this week.

ACPS could not produce any records indicating the School Board had been notified of the criminal investigation.

The division was limited in what it could share about its own investigation into Swiney due to legal limitations regarding personnel matters. It was not in a position to share information about the criminal case ACPD was conducting.

“We don’t investigate criminality,” Grant said. “That’s what the police do.”