By Mark E. Vogler
Staff Writer
Sat, May 17 2008 LAWRENCE — The School Department failed to notify police about a possible sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl by a male classmate at South Lawrence East School last week. Detectives started a criminal investigation into the alleged assault only after the girl's father accompanied her to the police station to file a complaint on Monday — five days later. "We launched our investigation based on the parent coming in with the child," Lawrence police Chief John Romero said yesterday. "These allegations should have been reported to us right away. I can say this is the exception as opposed to the rule. They're generally good at notifying us in these cases. I don't know why that wasn't done, but I understand the school administration is conducting its own investigation into why it wasn't reported," the chief said. The state's mandatory reporting law requires that teachers and school officials report possible abuse of children. But the March 19 incident didn't come to light until after the father met with school and police officials this week. The Eagle-Tribune is withholding the father's name as part of the paper's policy to not identify sex abuse victims. Assistant Superintendent Mary Lou Bergeron confirmed that the School Department is conducting its own internal investigation as to why police weren't notified about the incident, which occurred in a math class the day before Lawrence students went home for the Easter holiday. "We're reviewing it so we're clear on why things broke down," Bergeron said in an interview last night. "It was reported by the teacher (to the assistant principal) and some how or another the communication didn't get followed through. ... That's our standing protocol, that we report it immediately. Our initial contact with police is the school resource officer," she said. The school's principal didn't find out about the incident until Monday, when the girl's father came to the school, according to Bergeron. But the teacher reported it to Assistant Principal James O'Keefe, who was interviewed by detectives as part of an investigation to determine whether there are grounds for the filing of criminal charges against the 13-year-old student accused in the assault. O'Keefe told a reporter to contact the superintendent's office and hung up when asked about the situation yesterday. The girl's father said in an interview with The Eagle-Tribune this week that he was angry that school officials did nothing to address the situation until after he went to the police. When he asked school officials on Monday about what they planned to do, the father said he was told the student would receive a suspension. When he pressed what other action would be taken, he said school officials told him that his daughter could be transferred to another class or to a different school. Bergeron would not comment on whether disciplinary action was taken against the boy. Police are investigating a report that the girl was sexually assaulted by her classmate when she went up to the pencil sharpener in her math class. The girl told detectives that the boy reached over to her shirt and pulled the top of it out and then looked down her shirt. The girl told police that after she resisted the boy, she overheard the teacher telling him "to stop doing that," police said. But although the teacher acknowledged an incident took place in his classroom, he denies having seen it, Romero said. The father complained to police that the boy has grabbed several other girls previously, but was never disciplined. "We're interested in knowing whether there have been any other allegations against this student and how they were handled," Romero said. "Right now, we're in the middle of an investigation. When we complete it, we'll submit it to the district attorney's office to determine what, if any, charges are appropriate here," Romero said. This is the second case in recent weeks of an alleged sexual assault of a 12-year-old female student on school grounds. Two Frost School students were arrested late last month on charges of pushing a female classmate into a school closet and fondling her. A 12-year-old boy was charged with indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. A 13-year-old boy was charged with assault and battery and battery on a child under 14.
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