(UPDATED, 10:36 a.m. Tuesday, with comment from the Boise School District.)

A judge Monday dismissed criminal charges against a former Boise teacher, in a case related to a series of high-profile sexual abuse complaints at an elementary school.

Magistrate Judge David Manweiler issued his ruling on the same day the case against Marianne Baker was poised to go to a jury trial.

Baker faced two misdemeanor charges of failing to report suspected abuse at Valley View Elementary School. The charges centered on Gavin Snow, a former special education assistant at Valley View. In November, the Boise School District announced it had agreed to pay $7 million in sexual abuse settlements, closing seven families’ civil claims involving Snow.

Baker had pleaded innocent to the charges against her.

The crux of the criminal case — and Monday’s dismissal — involved photographs Snow had taken of Valley View students, and what Baker knew about the photos.

Prosecutors say Baker failed to report two December 2024 incidents; in both cases, Snow was seen in a bathroom with students, a cell phone in his hand. State law requires school employees to report suspected sexual abuse within 24 hours, either to police or the Department of Health and Welfare.

“Due to defendant’s delay in reporting, evidence obtained from Snow’s cell phone confirmed that nude photographs of children had been taken,” deputy city attorney Nicholas Bronk wrote in a Dec. 5.

Baker observed Snow with his phone in his hand, in violation of school rules, but had no reason to suspect abuse, defense attorney Jeffrey Brownson said during a Dec. 12 pretrial hearing. Baker reported the incidents to school and district administrators, in accordance with district policy, and administrators then contacted law enforcement, Brownson said.

Baker made her report on Jan. 7, 2025, three days before Boise police tried to arrest Snow on child sexual abuse charges. Snow died by suicide during the attempted arrest.

“This woman is solely responsible for stopping a monster,” Brownson said during the Dec. 12 hearing. “They should be erecting a statue.”

On Monday morning, city prosecutors filed two amended criminal charges against Baker — saying she had failed to report that Snow had photographed students. But unlike the prosecutors’ previous charges, the new filing made no claim that the photographs were “obscene or pornographic.”

Manweiler promptly dismissed the charges, saying prosecutors had failed to make a criminal case. “I am not allowing this case to go to the jury,” Manweiler, according to minutes from the hearing.

Brownson and city prosecutors did not immediately respond Monday afternoon to requests for comment.

The trial had been expected to run one or two days, and it could have placed Boise school administrators on the witness stand. Both the prosecution and defense had indicated they would call Boise district Superintendent Lisa Roberts and former Valley View Principal Rick Jordan to testify.

In a court filing Friday, a deputy city attorney had sought to exclude several possible defense witnesses and limit testimony regarding other sexual abuse allegations involving Boise staff members.

“Testimony concerning … a pattern of sexual abuse by Boise School District employees and teacher (sic), and how past abuses were investigated will distract, confuse and mislead the jury,” wrote Jessica Cafferty, the lead prosecutor in the case.

During a pretrial conference Friday, Manweiler said he would allow some leeway during the trial, but he wanted to avoid a far-reaching examination of school district policy.

Monday’s dismissal might not be the last word in this matter.

Baker filed a $1 million tort claim against the Boise district, a precursor to a possible civil suit.

In the claim, filed in November, Baker said she was placed on administrative leave and forced to resign after she filed her report against Snow.

“No due process was ever followed in dealing with Ms. Baker’s employment situation and eventual forced resignation,” the claim says.

The district says Baker was not terminated and not denied due process.

“The Boise School District is aware that the criminal case involving Ms. Baker has been dismissed,” district spokesman Dan Hollar said in an email Tuesday morning. “However, because the district has a pending tort claim filed by Ms. Baker, the district is unable to comment further, as the matters are related.”