Posted on 10/17/2002 4:23:24 AM PDT by fone
(Link may expire)
One day after school, she later recalled, the boy came home with a broken belt. Another time, his underpants were on backward and soiled.
On April 21, the grandmother said, she overheard the boy ask his 8-year-old brother to "get the two fifth-graders that are hurting me." When she questioned the boy, he told a horrific story.
Over the previous month, two older classmates - one 10, the other 11 - repeatedly raped him in the school lavatory. They yanked down his pants and, as one boy held him, the other sodomized him, the little boy said.
The boy later told police that the two older boys raped him about 10 times. When he tried to tell a teacher about the attacks, she rebuffed him: "No tattle-tales," she said, according to the police report.
Yesterday, the boy and his mother filed a $2 million lawsuit against the Cleveland Board of Education, accusing school administrators of negligence for failing to provide security adequate to prevent the rapes.
"To think that this sort of thing could go on in a school is unbelievable," said Maple Heights attorney David Pomerantz, who represents the boy and his mother. "It's unconscionable that this happened to him, but it's equally unconscionable that a school would allow it to happen. Obviously, they should be supervising kids better in bathrooms."
Reports of the sexual attacks first came to light on April 22, when the boy's grandmother took him to Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital and a doctor there called police.
Detectives from the police Sex Crimes Unit investigated, and the boy's accused attackers were charged with rape in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court. They are awaiting trial.
Pomerantz said a case worker from Children and Family Services substantiated the boy's allegations. An agency spokesman, however, said there was no record of the case being investigated or reported.
Schools spokesman Dan Minnich said neither of the boys accused in the case currently attends Cleveland schools. One has been placed at the Berea Children's Home; Minnich didn't know the other's whereabouts. As soon as the allegations were raised, he said, the district launched an internal investigation with Cleveland police, and the boys were removed from Charles Dickens.
Ward 3 City Councilman Zachary Reed, who represents the Mount Pleasant neighborhood around the school, said the allegations are shocking, but shouldn't detract from the area's revitalization.
"Anything can happen in a big-league city," he said. "We need to ensure that nothing like this ever happens in a school here ever again."
*Ding*ding*ding* Correct-amundo once again! Folks have been know to survive a hanging!
I heard this story about 8 or 10 times on TV this morning. Each time a little different, once I heard the reporter say that the teacher is still with the school, but her name is not being released to protect her privacy...
Don't you dare excuse their behavior that way! I don't care if they were "exposed" to it somehow or not! They've got some kind of responsibility here! Their parents have some kind of responibility here!
Next you'll try to tell me that the 10 and 11 year old animals who were part of the mob that murdered that man in Milwaukee were "exposed" so they should get a slap on the wrist.
Right from wrong is learned from day one. They're old enough to know better, period. That's half the problem in public school now. Everyone is so damn worried about "being exposed" to things and how to handle it.
This five year-old's parents are right: Sue the hell out of the school, the school system, the principal, the teacher the parents of the older kids and anyone else involved.
>A little extreme......
>
>But..... the two have each other: why don't they just get
>IN the sack and do one another!
I disagree, not extreme at all. In fact, freeper12's plan sounds like a waste of a good large sack to me.
Allow it? They WANT it.
AND, the "inmates" are in charge.
Hmmm .... you may be on to something (/sacrcasm).
You bet. My wife and I have had to explicity talk about homosexuality with our two young teenage sons. Why? Because homosexuals have made a huge public stink about the Boy Scouts in our town - because ALL of the Catholic schools in my area have been hit with homosexual molestation issues involving priests and deacons - because TV is full of full bore homosexuality - even on 'family' shows now. Geesh! I want my sons to have a chance to develop their normal sexuality first before having to be exposed to highly perverted, dangerous and filthy sexuality. The upside is that when we described the repeated anal rape of boys by a priest in our Catholic school system, our boys were on the verge of puking. That's good. If we have to talk to them about this stuff (we unfortunately do), we want them to know the truth about it.
You bet.
This monster teacher should never be around children again.
You are right..I went to a private christian school too and we had our lemons. But a bad day at a private school is better than a good day at a public school
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.