Mother Of Alleged Charter School Sex Abuse Victim Takes Stand
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The mother of a seven-year-old boy who was allegedly sexually abused while a student at the Downtown Miami Charter School told the court Monday her child was overall "happy" until the first incident of alleged abuse took place.
The testimony is part of a $25 million lawsuit filed by the family against the charter school. The mother, whose name is not being revealed, said when her second-grade son got off the private bus one day, "he looked terrified."
"(He) whispered to me that while he was on the bus, that someone made him do something nasty," the alleged victim's mother said in court. "I found out from (him) that he was made to perform oral sex on another student. (The other student) was basically telling him what to do, how to do it, and basically (the victim) did it out of fear of retaliation."
The boy's mother said she went to police and the school the next day to tell them what happened. She said her son had become "traumatized," saying the situation was "embarrassing and that is a lot for a young child."
The mom said her son twice attempted suicide.
"He just said, 'In order to not have that burden on me, I would rather just kill myself and just be done with everything," the mother said.
The principal, Rebecca Dinda, said she questioned all of the students in the van and none saw anything happen. She admitted the accused offender had a history of acting out sexually inappropriately, and had been suspended after one incident.
The alleged victim's mother said Principal Dinda, "promised" her that she would keep the boys separated at school.
"The principal assured me that that's what she would do," the alleged victim's mother told the court Monday.
The alleged victim said the older boy, a fifth grader, allegedly assaulted the seven-year-old twice in a restroom at the charter school. The principal said last week the restroom where the 7-year old victim claims to have been sexually assaulted twice is "always" monitored by a staff member during the breakfast time when the boy said the assaults occurred.
She testified that the door to the restroom is always open and that fifth graders aren't allowed to use the ground floor restroom.
"The person on that post would have told him to go upstairs," Dinda said.
The alleged victim's attorney asked Dinda last week why she didn't remove "the sexual predator" from the school after the 7-year-old brought his original allegation.
"There was an allegation of a sexual assault. I had no proof," Dinda replied. She noted, too that the State Attorney did not pursue a criminal case.
On cross-examination, the school's attorney attempted to attack the mother's credibility noting that she made no police report until the day after the alleged school bus incident.
The mother stood her ground saying when she called Miami Police the night of the incident, she was told she would have to see a special victims unit detective the next day and she did.
The defense made much of the boy having lost his little sister to accidental asphyxiation, and his father being in prison.
The mother countered that while the boy would say, "I miss my sister" and was unhappy his dad was gone, she insisted he did not develop severe emotional issues until after the incidents at school.
In opening statements, the defense told jurors the boy was traumatized long before the alleged school sex assaults and fabricated the stories of sex abuse, unable to distinguish "between reality and fantasy."