Eutrusca
13-04-2005, 15:11
NOTE: Are these people crazy, or what? Why would they not know that this would come out? Why would they not want to protect this girl and prosecute the perpetrators? People complain about "political correctness run amuck," but this is so far off the other end that it boggles the mind!
Sorry about quoting the entire article, but I thought the subject important enough that it was warranted.
Principal Fired for Failing to Report Sex Assault Case (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/13/national/13ohio.html?th&emc=th)
By JAMES DAO
Published: April 13, 2005
A high school principal in Columbus, Ohio, has been fired and three assistant principals suspended without pay because they failed to notify the police last month about accusations that a 16-year-old special-education student had been sexually assaulted in the school auditorium by a group of boys, one of whom videotaped the incident, school officials said yesterday.
The principal and her assistants not only failed to report the incident but also urged the girl's father to avoid calling the police out of concerns that reporters would become aware of the assault, according to statements given to school investigators.
The police are investigating four teenagers in connection with the incident, a spokeswoman for the Columbus police, Sherry Mercurio, said yesterday, but no charges have been filed.
"It's an alleged assault that we're looking into," Ms. Mercurio said.
A spokesman for the school district declined to say whether the boys, whose names were not released, had been suspended. The boys, all younger than 18, were not at school yesterday, he said.
One of the three assistant principals, Richard Watson, said he had found the videotape and then viewed it with other administrators. Their conclusion, they told investigators, was that there had been no coercion.
The district released statements this week from an inquiry that described a chaotic, vacillating response to the girl's complaint and an overarching concern about the tape by the top administrators at the 835-student building, Mifflin High School, on the northeastern side of the city. The district's investigation into the incident, which occurred on the afternoon of March 9, was first reported by The Columbus Dispatch.
One witness's statement said a boy pulled the girl onto the auditorium stage, ordered her to be quiet, pushed her to her knees and forced her to perform oral sex on him.
"If you scream, I'll have all my boys punch you," the boy told her and then hit her in the face, causing her mouth to bleed, a student told the investigators.
The girl told a special-education teacher minutes after the incident that she had been forced to have oral sex with two boys behind a curtain on the stage while at least two others watched. She said the boys stopped only after someone arrived in the auditorium and scared them off.
The girl, who has a speech defect, "just kept saying she was scared," the special-education teacher told the investigators.
Another special-education teacher, Lisa Upshaw, told the investigators that administrators did not call the girl's father immediately after learning about the attack.
When Mrs. Upshaw took it upon herself to call the father, Mr. Watson urged him not to come pick up his daughter until after the end of the school day "to avoid a confrontation with the suspects," Mrs. Upshaw told the investigators.
When the father arrived, he asked whether the school administration was going to call the police, Mrs. Upshaw said in her statement. "Mr. Watson said, 'No, we don't want to do that. We don't want the police,' " she told the investigators.
The father then stepped into the hallway and called the police on his cellphone.
Mr. Watson and other administrators told investigators that the principal, Regina B. Crenshaw, had also advised the father to avoid calling the police, the investigation report says. Mrs. Crenshaw recommended that the father return the next morning and report the incident to a police officer who was usually stationed at the school but who was not there on March 9, the report added.
"Do not call the police; let our officer handle it tomorrow, and you will be happy with the results," Mr. Watson said Mrs. Crenshaw told the father, the investigation report says.
Mrs. Crenshaw then saw the father out of the school and left for the day, several administrators said in their statements. That evening, the father returned with the police, who inspected the auditorium. After Mrs. Crenshaw learned that the police had begun an investigation, she notified her superiors about the incident, according to the investigation report.
Mrs. Crenshaw, who had worked for the district since 1980 and had been the principal at Mifflin for a year, did not return calls to her home. Mr. Watson declined to comment.
In his statement to investigators, Mr. Watson said he had told the father not to call 911 out of concerns that the police dispatcher's radio calls would be picked up by television news reporters, which might cause the girl "further mental trauma." But he said he did not try to dissuade the father from calling the police on a nonemergency line.
Mr. Watson and two other assistant principals, Suzie Retterer-Helfrich and Vincent D. Clarno, were suspended without pay. They will be reassigned when they return to work on Tuesday, a spokesman for the school system, Andrew Marcelain, said.
"You failed to demonstrate the leadership required of a Columbus Public Schools building administrator by your evident disregard for the victim's safety and lack of sensitivity to both the victim and parent," Superintendent Gene T. Harris wrote in letter to the assistant principals notifying them of their suspensions.
Ms. Retterer-Helfrich said in an interview yesterday that she was not involved in the deliberations over how to handle the girl's complaint because she had been administering a test at the time.
Sorry about quoting the entire article, but I thought the subject important enough that it was warranted.
Principal Fired for Failing to Report Sex Assault Case (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/13/national/13ohio.html?th&emc=th)
By JAMES DAO
Published: April 13, 2005
A high school principal in Columbus, Ohio, has been fired and three assistant principals suspended without pay because they failed to notify the police last month about accusations that a 16-year-old special-education student had been sexually assaulted in the school auditorium by a group of boys, one of whom videotaped the incident, school officials said yesterday.
The principal and her assistants not only failed to report the incident but also urged the girl's father to avoid calling the police out of concerns that reporters would become aware of the assault, according to statements given to school investigators.
The police are investigating four teenagers in connection with the incident, a spokeswoman for the Columbus police, Sherry Mercurio, said yesterday, but no charges have been filed.
"It's an alleged assault that we're looking into," Ms. Mercurio said.
A spokesman for the school district declined to say whether the boys, whose names were not released, had been suspended. The boys, all younger than 18, were not at school yesterday, he said.
One of the three assistant principals, Richard Watson, said he had found the videotape and then viewed it with other administrators. Their conclusion, they told investigators, was that there had been no coercion.
The district released statements this week from an inquiry that described a chaotic, vacillating response to the girl's complaint and an overarching concern about the tape by the top administrators at the 835-student building, Mifflin High School, on the northeastern side of the city. The district's investigation into the incident, which occurred on the afternoon of March 9, was first reported by The Columbus Dispatch.
One witness's statement said a boy pulled the girl onto the auditorium stage, ordered her to be quiet, pushed her to her knees and forced her to perform oral sex on him.
"If you scream, I'll have all my boys punch you," the boy told her and then hit her in the face, causing her mouth to bleed, a student told the investigators.
The girl told a special-education teacher minutes after the incident that she had been forced to have oral sex with two boys behind a curtain on the stage while at least two others watched. She said the boys stopped only after someone arrived in the auditorium and scared them off.
The girl, who has a speech defect, "just kept saying she was scared," the special-education teacher told the investigators.
Another special-education teacher, Lisa Upshaw, told the investigators that administrators did not call the girl's father immediately after learning about the attack.
When Mrs. Upshaw took it upon herself to call the father, Mr. Watson urged him not to come pick up his daughter until after the end of the school day "to avoid a confrontation with the suspects," Mrs. Upshaw told the investigators.
When the father arrived, he asked whether the school administration was going to call the police, Mrs. Upshaw said in her statement. "Mr. Watson said, 'No, we don't want to do that. We don't want the police,' " she told the investigators.
The father then stepped into the hallway and called the police on his cellphone.
Mr. Watson and other administrators told investigators that the principal, Regina B. Crenshaw, had also advised the father to avoid calling the police, the investigation report says. Mrs. Crenshaw recommended that the father return the next morning and report the incident to a police officer who was usually stationed at the school but who was not there on March 9, the report added.
"Do not call the police; let our officer handle it tomorrow, and you will be happy with the results," Mr. Watson said Mrs. Crenshaw told the father, the investigation report says.
Mrs. Crenshaw then saw the father out of the school and left for the day, several administrators said in their statements. That evening, the father returned with the police, who inspected the auditorium. After Mrs. Crenshaw learned that the police had begun an investigation, she notified her superiors about the incident, according to the investigation report.
Mrs. Crenshaw, who had worked for the district since 1980 and had been the principal at Mifflin for a year, did not return calls to her home. Mr. Watson declined to comment.
In his statement to investigators, Mr. Watson said he had told the father not to call 911 out of concerns that the police dispatcher's radio calls would be picked up by television news reporters, which might cause the girl "further mental trauma." But he said he did not try to dissuade the father from calling the police on a nonemergency line.
Mr. Watson and two other assistant principals, Suzie Retterer-Helfrich and Vincent D. Clarno, were suspended without pay. They will be reassigned when they return to work on Tuesday, a spokesman for the school system, Andrew Marcelain, said.
"You failed to demonstrate the leadership required of a Columbus Public Schools building administrator by your evident disregard for the victim's safety and lack of sensitivity to both the victim and parent," Superintendent Gene T. Harris wrote in letter to the assistant principals notifying them of their suspensions.
Ms. Retterer-Helfrich said in an interview yesterday that she was not involved in the deliberations over how to handle the girl's complaint because she had been administering a test at the time.