10-Year-Old Charged With Sex Offense, Assault Following Game Of Tag At Maryland School
MARBURY, Md. (WJZ) -- A 10-year-old boy was charged with a fourth-degree sex offense and second-degree assault following a game of tag at a Maryland school.
A letter sent home by Charles County Public Schools officials stated that the incident occurred on Oct. 29 at Gale-Bailey Elementary School in Marbury.
According to school officials, the fourth-grade students were playing a game of tag that escalated when a boy began making inappropriate comments and movements toward the girls. One of the boys also wrapped his arms around one of the girls.
The girls reported the incident to the teacher on recess duty and the teacher then took the girls to the Vice Principal to make a statement. The boys also were required to write out statements, the school said.
The schools contacted the parents of all the children involved. The School Resource Officer began investigating the incident and police ended up charging the boy.
Once the boy was charged, the principal imposed a disciplinary consequence as laid out in the school's student code of conduct for each child involved based on their involvement.
The father of one of the victims said he hadn't seen enough action on this incident.
"My daughter and the other two victims have seen nothing but apathy," the father said. "The little bit of time we had her back in school, she was bullied and harassed and called degrading names."
He said it's the opposite of what children should see after they speak up about harassment.
"We want to show victims they have every right to speak up," the father said.
Superintendent Dr. Katherine Hill responded by saying," children don't go to school to be bullied, harassed or sexually abused. That's just not we expect or what we're about."
Hill said she would be happy to meet with the man's daughter and the two other girls to hear personally their story and "to ensure them that the school system values their story and wants them back in school learning."
"I apologize for what happened to your daughter and any other child in this situation because it shouldn't have happened," Hill said.
The father also said that he would like to see the principal and vice principal of the school removed after this incident.
