How not to handle a student sex case

The victim.

That's where everyone's concern must be focused when there are allegations of sexual assault against a child.

Those accused, especially if they also are children, also deserve protection while waiting for a judge or jury to rule.

Those two simple rules create a maelstrom that's turbulent enough on its own, without adults becoming inflamed or defensive over what boils down to side issues.

That's why we're especially upset by Indian Prairie Unit District 204 school board President Mark Metzger's e-mail last week using foul language to criticize the father of an alleged victim in just such a case.

"I think it's about time for me to issue a response and blow up the lies this (expletive) continues to tell," Metzger wrote in his e-mail to fellow board members and Superintendent Stephen Daeschner. Metzger was responding to an e-mail by the father of an 11-year-old Gregory Middle School student demanding that another boy be removed from that school. That student, also 11, and a 12-year-old are charged with felony counts of criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual assault for an attack alleged to have occurred in November at a home in Naperville.

Of course Metzger should never have sent the e-mail (he has apologized publicly and to the father), but beyond that he should never have allowed his hotheaded reaction to the father's criticism to obscure his obligation to the alleged victim or his sensitivity to the boy's family. When Metzger hit "reply to all," he worsened an adversarial relationship and ratcheted up the rancor in this very volatile case.

It isn't the school district's first misstep. The day before Metzger apologized for his e-mail, Daeschner accepted blame for any mishandling of the case, including his failure to tell some school board members about it until they read it in the newspaper or heard about it from neighbors.

Meanwhile, the alleged victim and one of the accused share a school, separated by a 100-foot court-mandated buffer at all times. The 12-year-old transferred voluntarily to another Naperville school district last week.

While school officials opposed moving the accused students for fear of how a new school would react, we believe separating the students would be the best option for all involved - the alleged victim as well as the accused, who faces daily stigma and restrictions at Gregory.

We wholeheartedly support one action by the board: investigation of a new policy specifically focused on the rights of victims that would set a "default reaction" for cases like this one and include steps for analyzing whether students should be reassigned.

For Indian Prairie, such a policy is overdue.

For every other school district, Indian Prairie's handling of this case is a cautionary tale of mammoth proportions. We urge passage of similar victim-oriented policies and a discussion of procedures before any similar cases occur. And, of course, a review of guidelines on e-mail use.