Online since June 1997!

Sexual Harassment Charges
on a 11-Year Old Boy

13-Mar-04 -- I remember laughing when I saw political cartoons about how sexual harassment charges among school-age children had begun to be filed, but now I know what it is to want to find the medium between assault and a simple molestation. 

This week my daughter was followed home by a boy named Thomas who I had never heard of before.  He is also eleven years old and goes to her school but he is in another class.  He was accompanied by a friend of his named David.  There was a little girl Roxanne present as well.

My daughter had claimed to be intimidated once before by another group of boys who had followed her toward the house one time so she took a circuitous route.  We live about ten short blocks from the school.  When I noticed she was home late when she was first followed, I surmised that she was more interested in going to the store with her friends and coming up with an excuse.  I know she's a little boy crazy, but supposedly this had nothing do with her interest at the time.  Often her friend Amy, who goes to a  school close by, joins her.  I told my daughter that being followed from school was no excuse for meandering.  She should either return to the school and complain about anyone who is bothering her or get inside the house and do not answer the doorbell if they attempt to annoy her.  I told her that she could call the superintendent who lives next door and knows our family well or if worse came to worse, call 911.  At all times she has her cell phone and of course she could also reach me.

Well this day Thomas somehow got Alexandra pinned to the ground.  How she ended up on her back with her arms pinned behind her is unclear, but she was trying to get up but he got on top of her and forced kisses on her.  She spit at him repeatedly to discourage him and eventually was able to force her way back to her feet.  This transpired very close to the front of our building.  She then got herself into the lobby where he tried to force his way in, asking if he could have a "glass of water".  She refused of course.  Roxanne and David were witness to this but did not seem to make any change in the situation.  Their statements later proved useful though, and I do not believe either of them were encouraging Thomas to harass Alexandra.

Alex called me this time as soon as she got inside.  She told me what happened and I immediately called the parent-teacher coordinator at the school on her cell phone.  By this time it was about 4pm so I half expected not to receive a response.  However, the coordinator was very helpful and left messages with the appropriate personnel.  The next morning I got a call from the guidance counselor while Alex was sitting in her office.  I was asked if I wanted to press charges.  I asked what that entailed.  I was told that I would probably have to go to my precinct (which ended up being the same one as the school) and file a report.  Meanwhile the guidance counselor called the district office and found out that they were obliged to file a sexual harassment complaint within their own disciplinary protocols.  Throughout the day I was conferenced in by telephone to hear Alexandra's statement to the police, because I could not get there in time, which made it unnecessary for me to go to the precinct, asked that the statement Alex made be faxed to me and understood that Roxanne and David both made statements.  I spoke with the Dean about the situation and then I was called by a police officer who told me how Thomas was being charged with first degree sexual harassment, which is a felony.

The next day I was called by a very nice parole officer for youth from the community court where Thomas lives.  The police officer said that it was in my discretion to either let the case go straight to juvenile criminal court or to let him go into this program that I've heard about on TV.  It's called Youth Court and it is where a group of peers set up a tribunal (hopefully saving a lot of taxpayer money) to try and sentence juveniles with binding punishments in lieu of criminal court.  At any point during the pendency of the prosecution or his subsequent probation, I will have the discretion, if I deem him not to take the situation seriously, particularly if he has any contact with Alexandra, to send him to the far more lengthy process of criminal court.  The probation officer and everyone else I have spoken to thus far agree that I was right to press charges.  The situation could have been far worse, but most importantly before deciding to press charges, I asked the guidance counselor if this boy had ever had complaints made before.

Indeed, part of David's statement was that Thomas was known for liking to "hump" girls like an animal.  The incident prior to ours was earlier the same week when Thomas had touched another girl on the buttocks.  A complaint was made with the school and the mother of Thomas was summoned to the school.  She did not appear, so the decision for me to proceed with charges became clear to me.  The guidance counselor had to reserve her opinion but I could tell that she was pleased with my decision, as were a few of Alexandra's teachers and the dean that I spoke with subsequently, although they too could not comment. 

I was appreciative that even on the way home they took responsibility for Alexandra's welfare.  The dean had even offered to walk Alexandra home that next day as we do not live that far, but Alex's mother was on maternity leave and picked her up from school.  The next day was Friday and Alexandra was dropped off at school by me thinking she would be considered a hero, at least to the girls.  However, the school was abuzz and she was not uniformly looked upon as a hero.  I told her to remind her friends that her lawyer father was not going to let this rest and it was not in her discretion to press charges.  However what was probably most distracting was that the guidance counselor went to each class and showed a film about sexual harassment that she had obtained and they frankly spoke to many of the children in sixth grade about this kind of behavior.  Many of the kids were stunned at how illegal what they were engaging in was.  The guidance counselor also told me that they were shocked at what she said and the language she used.

I told my daughter to go in there Monday morning with her head held up high and if anyone complains about what she did, she can just remind them what the police officer told me he told Thomas.  The police officer told Thomas that he was about the size of some of the other juvenile's legs and if he was not extremely careful with what he does now, he will have done to him by the big boys what he had done to Alexandra!

This page was last updated 28-Dec-2007.