Father pleads for action in Naperville school assault case
The parents of an 11-year-old boy who says he was sexually assaulted by classmates pleaded publicly Monday night for them to be removed from Gregory Middle School.
Two preteen Naperville boys have been charged with sexually assaulting the classmate while playing Nov. 11, 2008, at a house without parent supervision.
Naperville police said the crime was reported the next day.
A 12-year-old and an 11-year-old were charged with felony counts of criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual assault as well as a misdemeanor count of battery against an 11-year-old schoolmate.
Because the defendants and victim are juveniles, most details of the case are being withheld. But the boy's father said everyone in the community has heard the details.
"My son's fellow students know the facts, know the details of who, what, where, why this occurred and the mild response so far," the father said as he addressed Indian Prairie Unit 204 board members during a standing-room-only meeting. "There is not a sufficient policy relevant to student discipline on aggressive hostile behavior to resolve this matter and your inaction has created a disruptive, hostile, intimidating learning environment at Gregory Middle School for all students."
School district officials said "action took place to address and prioritize student safety," but would not elaborate on what the action entailed.
The father said he was very proud of his son for coming forward but feared whether the boy felt he did the right thing considering he still sees the two teens charged in the case at school.
Board President Mark Metzger reminded the parents and often raucous audience that board members were doing everything they could "within the letter of the law" in regards to "this extremely sensitive matter."
About 15 parents spoke out, all supporting the parents' plea to take the charged students out of the school. Only one, Elizabeth Reed, identified herself as an attorney and asked everyone in the room to remember the presumption of innocence and urged the board to remember "the rules they need to follow."
Before the public comment portion of the meeting, board member Curt Bradshaw attempted to present the board with and read out loud a victim's right's policy he drafted.
"I've spent a lot of time over the last week, just like everyone else here, thinking about the subject and I come to the conclusion that common sense and compassion demands the victim of a violent felony deserves to be protected from the attacker," Bradshaw said, to a standing ovation from the audience.
Metzger agreed to allow Bradshaw to distribute his policy proposal, but said reading or discussing it would be "nothing more than grandstanding."
Bradshaw's proposal states: "Regardless of the location of conduct, a student who has been charged, convicted, or pleaded guilty in a court of law to a violent felony against another student in their school shall be reassigned to another school within the district or placed in an alternative education program for a period of three years."
Metzger said the proposal would be discussed at length at the board's Feb. 23 meeting before the board adjourned into a lengthy executive session meeting.