(UPDATED, March 22, 2023, to correct the Nelsons’ marital status.)

Charges have been dropped against a former West Ada school principal who had faced two felony counts of child abuse.

Tony Nelson had been principal at Star Middle School in May 2019, when prosecutors charged Nelson and his wife Pamela with abusing two children in their care.

The charges were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled, the Idaho Statesman reported Tuesday.

“The state has now acknowledged Tony and his wife Pam faced a very difficult and complicated situation involving two children the couple adopted from Bulgaria and, based on what is now known, dismissal was warranted,” Tony Nelson’s attorney, Michael Bartlett, said in an emailed statement to the Statesman.

Pamela Nelson, Tony Nelson’s wife, now faces a single misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace, the Statesman reported Tuesday.