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PHILADELPHIA – November 15, 2011 – Philadelphia police are investigating the
alleged assault of an 8-year-old boy inside a school bathroom. Inside the walls
of Bryant Elementary School in West Philadelphia, one mother says her 8-year
old son couldn’t fight off the three 4th graders who sexually assaulted him. “I
felt helpless, it took him almost 7 hours to try to tell me what happened,” the
mother told Action News. The advanced student is in the same grade and class
as his alleged 10-year-old attackers. He got permission to go to the bathroom late
last month and the other boys followed. His mother says a few weeks before the
incident, he told the school the boys were bullying him. Bryant investigated the
assault and says it only found evidence of bullying and suspended the three stu-
dents. “Five days, they got five days for bullying, that’s an outrage,” the mother
said. But now the special victims unit is investigating. The district says it knows
policy was broken and all four students shouldn’t have been allowed to go to the
bathroom at the same time. The school sent out a letter informing parents that
counselors have already met with classes to discuss inappropriate behavior. Next
week, a resource officer will hold assemblies on bullying, good decision making,
violence and respect. incident to happened again in the school,” Philadelphia
School District spokesman Fernando Gallard said. The mother, however, says it’s
too late for her son. “If the school board’s policy is to protect our children, why
aren’t they doing that before a child gets hurt?” she said. She says her son is in
counseling and he’s been transferred to another school. The district couldn’t tell
Action News if a teacher was reprimanded for the policy violation.
