Sexual abuse reports at Central not cause for alarm, district says / LJWorld.com

Archive for Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Noah Musser/Special to the Journal-World. Enlarge photo.

Locations of sexual assaults involving children reported in the same block as a school between 2004 and 2008. Source: Lawrence Police Department.

By Shaun Hittle

April 7, 2009

The story behind Sexual Assault

Lawrence Journal-World managing editor Dennis Anderson talks with reporters Shaun Hittle and Christine Metz about their work on the recent sexual assault series.

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Noah Musser/Special to the Journal-World

Sexual Assaults in Lawrence: Not an uncommon crime

In the past five years, more than 450 adult sexual assaults have been reported in Lawrence. There's a rape in Lawrence every four days. Each case represents an instance where someone’s life has been irrevocably changed. LJWorld.com, the Lawrence Journal-World and 6News are taking a deeper look at what those numbers really mean.

More than 400 students arrive on the 1400 block of Massachusetts Street every school day to attend Central Junior High.

According to data obtained from the Lawrence Police Department, the block is also the location of 10 reported sexual assaults against children — the highest number of any single block in Lawrence — over the past five years.

Lawrence school district officials, however, say the numbers are not the cause for alarm they might appear to be and urge caution in reacting to the term “sexual assault.”

“That’s a scary term,” said district Communications Director Julie Boyle, one of several school officials who met with the Journal-World to discuss the incidents.

In examining the data, one offense was a “false report,” while another did not occur at the school and was erroneously coded by police, she said.

The remaining eight did occur at the school and Boyle described the circumstances of the incidents, which overall included the actions of four male students. Five of the reports involved inappropriate touching, while the other three involved one male student exposing himself to three female students.

Lawrence police spokesman Sgt. Bill Cory confirmed Boyle’s description of the offenses. Cory also said that of the eight cases, only one arrest was made.

While the school takes the complaints seriously, Superintendent Randy Weseman said it’s important to consider the environment and circumstances in a junior high when looking at the numbers.

“The data are irrelevant without the context,” he said.

Weseman, a former junior high principal, said that many incidents classified as sexual assaults pertain to situations in which students are not aware that their behavior is inappropriate and possibly criminal.

“For the people involved, they were serious,” said Weseman. But he said that such incidents are “probably not unusual for junior high kids.”

Robbie Derritt, who has a daughter in ninth grade at Central, said that he had not heard anything about the offenses at the school, but the behavior doesn’t surprise him.

“People do stupid stuff in junior high,” said Derritt. “You’re testing the boundaries.”

Derritt is co-leader of the Central Parent Group, and he said that no parents had expressed concerns to him about sexual assaults at the school and that he believes the school is safe for students.

Frank Harwood, who was principal at Central from 2006-2008 and is now the district’s director of technology, said junior high-age students are still learning how to behave in unsupervised settings and are in the process of maturing.

“They don’t understand how to interact,” said Harwood, adding that his biggest concern is incidents that don’t get reported because the school can’t appropriately intervene.

When it is reported, schools have an opportunity to educate students about what is, and what is not, appropriate behavior.

“It’s a teaching moment,” said Weseman.

The process

Once reports of a sexual assault reach school officials, the school resource officer, a Lawrence police officer stationed in the school, is notified and responsible for filing the police report.

The parents of the students involved are notified, and an e-mail is sent to the school board, the superintendent’s office and to the Journal-World, Boyle said.

Depending on the results of the investigation, school officials decide which actions to take.

Harwood said that in some cases, the threat of legal action is helpful in working with parents who might minimize or deny their child’s behavior.

“Making a police report raises the bar for parents,” said Harwood. The goal of such intervention, he said, is “helping students who are victims and well as helping students who were suspects.”

Other schools

Of the 21 public elementary, junior high and high schools in the district, Central Junior High is located on the only block where more than two sexual assault cases were reported.

Weseman said that the higher number of reports at Central might be attributed to reporting differences in the individual schools. In such offenses, he said, there are “layers of discretion” in regard to how school officials and the particular school resource officer report offenses.

He said that he did not believe the number differences were due to any particular demographic factors or the environment at Central, and that in his experience such incidents occur in all socioeconomic classes.

“We see this across the board,” said Weseman.

Harwood said that the intervention efforts in the school have been successful in reducing further incidents and protecting the students in the school.

“Once there was a report, there weren’t any repeat offenders,” Harwood said. “We made sure we did everything we could to protect others at the school.”

The efforts by the school, he said, create an environment where students sometimes feel more secure than in other settings in their lives.

Discussion

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7 April 2009
at 7:57 a.m.

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PierceHarlan (Anonymous) says…

With all due respect, this article is a microcosm of many of the things wrong with the hysterical culture in which we find ourselves stranded.

First, the unequivocal assertion that eight of the ten reported “sexual assaults” did, in fact, occur is astounding, given that only one arrest was made of the eight and that one, and only one, student presumably was afforded his due process rights to determine if, in fact, the incident for which he was charged actually occurred. “Sexual assault” has a specific legislative definition, and it varies from state to state. Given all that, it is breathtaking how someone can absolutely, for-a-fact “know” that eight sexual assaults actually occurred.

Second, and more to the point, branding typical junior high school juvenile interaction as “sexual assault” trivializes the experience of women, and men, who have been victims of actual sexual assault. Young teens engage in all manner of teasing and juvenile horseplay that is not intended to hurt, and does not hurt, its “victims.” The purveyors of this conduct often construe their horseplay as welcome. Girls do it to boys, too, but boys are loathe to report such conduct, as are most girls. But even discussing this garden-variety teen behavior in the same context as sexual assault where, for example, young women are drugged and raped, is an affront to common sense. It not only trivializes real victimization, it is but a sad manifestation of an hysterical culture that looks for sex crimes oozing from every crevice — a culture where men are criminallly charged with taking family pictures of their own children playing at a playground, and where the majority of men in a poll say they won't help a crying child for fear of being branded a sex offender. This is what we've come to.

Perhaps worst of all, branding this childish conduct “sexual assault” inappropriately tells the young females who were the recipients of the male attention that they have been victimized by sex predators whose conduct is akin to rape. This, in turn, only encourages the “victims” to view every young man with suspicion, a rapist-in-waiting. Is it any wonder when they thereafter misconstrue every male advance as an assault? Is it any wonder false rape claims are an epidemic?

What on earth have we come to?

Yes, the conduct described is inappropriate. In the pre-hysterical old days, there was a way to deal with sexual horseplay — it was called “detention.” It worked then, and it could still work today if the Chicken Littles would only calm down and stop blowing the problem out of proportion.

Pierce Harlan
7 April 2009
at 8:21 a.m.

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cait48 (Anonymous) says…

Pierce, I seriously urge you to read this article.
http://www.racialicious.com/2008/12/2…
7 April 2009
at 8:57 a.m.

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shaunepec (Shaun Hittle) says…

Pierce,
Are you sayng that you have an issue with us saying that 8 offenses occurred there, or are you saying the school and police should not have said that…because we are not saying for sure that 8 offenses occurred, that's what the police and school say…
7 April 2009
at 9:28 a.m.

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Practicality (Anonymous) says…

I think Pierce is trying to say that there should be a distinction made between “garden-variety teen behavior ” and “young women are drugged and raped”. Lumping them all together under the term sexual assault, seems to make one more severe than it actually is, and the other more trivial than it actually is. But, I am not trying to speak for Pierce.

Nice article Shaun,
Kudos for you in reporting on subjects that make most people feel uncomfortable so they just try to avoid it by pretending it doesn't exist. It is interesting to me that some guy can lead police on a car chase not exceeding 40 mph, and there will be 110 posts about it. Or, some body sets a burning bottle in the street at 2:00 a.m. and there are 50 posts about it. But on these articles, where there are hundreds of documented cases of a horrible crimes, everyone is silent. Hopefully that will change.

I wonder if you could tell me Shaun, if a seventh grader snaps the bra strap of the girl sitting in front of him, in english class, is it technically considered sexual assault? That used to happen all the time when I was in school, as I am sure it still does. Please don't think I am saying that it was or is o.k. that it happened though. Just curious.
7 April 2009
at 9:38 a.m.

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KSChick1 (Anonymous) says…

I disagree with you Pierce. I have seen several students engage in juvenile horseplay at Central as one of my kids goes there. There is a difference between juvenile horseplay and sexual assault. Your post is what is trivializing the behavior because you don't see it as a problem. This blase attitude and your thoughts on how nothing could really be happening are what keep victims from wanting to report what happens to them. “It can't be that bad. They were just horsing around.” etc.
Unless you see the sexual assault you cannot judge how serious it was or the impact it is going to have on the victim.
You are only seeing things from your point of view, not from the point of view of a victim.
My child is 15 but is the size of a 11 or 12 yr old. She is pushed and tripped and has all other manner of things done to her in the name of “juvenile horseplay.”
We have decided not to pursue most of the incidents because you do have to pick your battles and I can remember what a nightmare junior high was, and how things only got worse when you told or your parents intervened.
BUT, if anybody ever lays a hand on my daughter in a sexual way, I will push that to the limit. She cannot always defend herself and it is up to me to help her. I educated her as to what is acceptable and what is not and have heard her say, “You're creeping me and I don't like it!” to another student. I have done what I can to protect her for now, the rest is up to her.
7 April 2009
at 10:22 a.m.

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PierceHarlan (Anonymous) says…

shaunapec — I understand that you were merely reporting what the police said. I have no issue with your reporting. It is troubling, is it not, that the police could say, in one breath, that eight sexual assaults occurred, while in the next admit that only one arrest was made. Either they are not doing their job or they've correctly adjudged this conduct to be far less serious than an actual sexual assault, which could send an offender away to prison for years. I suspect the latter is more accurate.

KSChick1 — you indicated that you've reported some incidents. Kindly detail what you've reported — what was the outcome? What do you know, first-hand, about sexual assaults occurring at the school? I am sorry, but it is a grave mistake to conflate rape with everyday teenage behavior. Women are often are scarred for life from rape and you dishonor them by lumping the sort of conduct referenced here with their victimization. To insist that every instance of touching or horseplay is on some sort of rape continuum is dangerous, it is disingenuous and, with all due respect, it is attitudes such as this that engenders a culture where almost half of all rape claims are false.

Cait48 — I refer you to my blog which is based on actual news and unbiased studies: http://falserapesociety.blogspot.com/
7 April 2009
at 10:26 a.m.

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Jersey_Girl (Anonymous) says…

Pierce - would you prefer it be called “sexual horseplay”? Personally, that grosses me out as it brings to mind thoughts of beastiality. The inappropriate touching wasn't defined, but as a junior high student, I would have been shocked to say the least if someone had, say, grabbed my breast. I still would be. I had a guy expose himself to me one day when I was walking to school when I was in high school and it freaked me out and I was in high school, not junior high. And this is hard for me to put out there publicly, I was assualted by a classmate graduation night who just wouldn't take no for an answer and didn't stop even when I started crying. When I saw him at our high school reunion, I broke out in a cold sweat and almost vomited. So I feel qualified to speak as an assualt victim that inappropriate touching and being flashed can be equally traumatizing as rape itself.

7 April 2009
at 10:33 a.m.

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Practicality (Anonymous) says…

KSChick1,

I am sorry your daughter is having a rough time in school. You are right, how it affects the victim should definitely be taken into account. It must be difficult for you as well, to have to deal with people victimizing your daughter in the ways you describe.

But, I did not interpret what Pierce said as necessarily as negative as you did. Maybe the incidents are more severe than “detention” as punishment, but wouldn’t you agree that there is a difference between “tripping” someone or “pushing” someone than actually stabbing someone? Both incidents are wrong, and both incidents need to be punished, but do they need to be in the same category? I don’t know, just posing the question.

On another note though, I know of an incident a few years ago, in Topeka. A ninth grade girl, not unlike your daughter in terms of being small, was in the process of sitting down in her seat during class, when the guy behind her reached over and pinched her rear. The girl didn’t do anything initially, because she was so embarrassed and the entire class saw it and laughed. After going home and finally telling her mother, she went back to school the next day and told the Principal or School Counselor, I forget which. Anyway, they pulled the guy in, who was in tenth grade, and he at first denies it, then admits doing it but then said that she has done it to him before as well, and that she liked it. To make a long story short(er), this guy (who was popular) gets a bunch of kids in the class to corroborate his story. This girl, who was not popular and always a quiet and respectful child, ended up suffering tremendous depression over the incident. (Which ended up with her and the guy getting detention for a few days) She was constantly harassed in school after that, with kids calling her a “snitch” and pretending like they were going to grab her rear when she turned around among other things. She was a 4.0 honors student before this happened with perfect attendance. After words, she started making C’s and often faked illnesses to try and avoid going to school. I tend to believe her account of the story though, for I knew her before, and she was always dutiful in her studies and was very quiet and shy, even around her peers. I will say, whatever occured , it had a tremendous effect on her. Things got so bad, that her parents finally put her in a different school. She did return back to her 4.0 honors self after awhile, but the incidents definitely are a blip on her transcripts. For without that time period in her life, she would have finished school with a 4.0 and probably would have been the Valedictorian. I don’t know if this incident would be considered Sexual Assault technically, but it did have profound repercussions for the victim.
7 April 2009
at 10:37 a.m.

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Jersey_Girl (Anonymous) says…

Pierce - perhaps only one arrest was made because only one victim was willing to press charges. If the victim refuses to press charges, there is very little the police can do.
7 April 2009
at 10:48 a.m.

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shaunepec (Shaun Hittle) says…

To Practicality,
Thanks for being interested and commenting. As for your question about the bra snapping, I'm not sure how that would be classified. But I do know,that from what the police and the school said, these incidents usually involved a male student grabbing a female student or a male student exposing himself to a female student.

As for the other various comments about what is and what is not a sexual assault, this is a tricky issue. In no way does anyone want to minimize these incidents. They are serious and an opportunity for the schools to educate kids. But, the term sexual assault is severe, and in terms of what we generally think of as sexual assault, rape, etc., these don't fit in that category.

To Pierce, I think the fact that there was only one arrest made might speak to how the schools handled the cases. Even if an arrest wasn't made, it doesn't mean it didn't happen. These cases might have been handled in a more informal way, with the interested parties deciding that an arrest wouldn't be appropriate.
7 April 2009
at 11:57 a.m.

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cait48 (Anonymous) says…

I still disagree with Pierce. Sexual assault and rape are different things. Rape is a sexual assault but sexual assault can occur without rape. What defines sexual assault is different to different people and contributes to the “not rape” epidemic. Is grabbing a woman/girl's breast without her permission assault? Is it as serious as rape? To some females, yes it is. We have problems enough with defending our bodily integrity without having it trivialized.
Yes there are people wrongly accused of rape. It happens. But believe me, it's a drop in the bucket compared to the number of females that are sexually assaulted and don't report it because it's “not rape” and that assault has been so trivialized that they believe (correctly) that nothing will be done about it.
7 April 2009
at 12:34 p.m.

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Speicher (Danny Speicher) says…

I, too, disagree with Pierce on this issue. Cait said it best that rape is a form of sexual assault… Not the other way around. Sexual assault is a huge umbrella that encompasses many sexual crimes, these ranging from Rape and Solicitation of a Child all the way down to Aggravated Indecent Liberties with a Child (which is what, I am sure, most of these incidents would fall under if taken to court.)

It's ridiculous to say that it is degrading to rape victims to lump these students under the umbrella of sexual assault with those rape victims. That would be like saying it is offensive to lump assault victims (who were punched in the face by another student) with murder victims under the umbrella of violent crime.

The bottom line is that if young girls (or guys) are feeling offended by inappropriate touching… Than it DOES need to be reported. I think it is slightly degrading to those who have experienced that to say to them, “Listen, I know they grabbed you and fondled you… But, hey… You weren't raped… So, that's good news, right?” Pierce, you may think we live in a society where overreaction runs rampant… But, to those who have been through this daily “teenage horseplay”, I think they might argue that we live in a pretty dismissive society. And, unfortunately, you help propagate that.

Perhaps if you had a solution for these students that experience this horseplay on a daily basis, that doesn't return their offenders back into the hallways more angry and more determined to continue their actions, I might be more inclined to see your point of view. But, detention just isn't going to cut it in these situations. This isn't like being tardy for homeroom… It isn't like cursing within an earshot of a teacher… This is touching someone else's body in a way that they feel hurt or violated. And, that is a big bigger of a deal and needs to be dealt with in a more stern fashion. I applaud Central for their determination to report these incidents to the Resource Officer. This promotes a zero tolerance atmosphere for this kind of “horseplay”. Very well done.
7 April 2009
at 12:48 p.m.

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coolmom (Anonymous) says…

i have a daughter that was touched in junior high in an innappropriate manner for weeks. smacked on the butt, pinched, comments were made, bra straps pulled, pretty constant harrasment and after she told a number of times and it was dismissed i went and was also told we will talk to him etc. finally she set behind her and kept touching her and she smacked him out of his chair. i went to the school and threatened a restraining order and asked for a meeting with the parents etc. my kid is a good student and a really good kid and she was dismissed for a time now a few years later and he no longer comes near my kid but has been suspended 3 or 4 more times for the same kind of behavior and a lot of it is still ignored. scary the potential this young man has for trouble.
7 April 2009
at 1:05 p.m.

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Practicality (Anonymous) says…

Speicher,

I agree with your argument concerning the Sexual Assault “umbrella”. That makes sense to me. But, on your last point you were trying to make,

“Perhaps if you had a solution for these students that experience this horseplay on a daily basis, that doesn't return their offenders back into the hallways more angry and more determined to continue their actions, I might be more inclined to see your point of view.” (Speicher)

In my experience with the broad spectrum of schools in Kansas, which is limited but more than most, many do not have the control or supervision that it is believed by the public that they do. In these situations, where a school staff member did not observe the incident, what should occur? It then becomes a game of he says, she says, which is difficult enough to determine without compounding the problem with the frequency in which many teenagers fabricate the truth. I do agree with the report to the school resorce officer, that should happen without fail every time, in every school.

Maybe you would comment about the “bra snapping” incidents that occured when I was in school. Does that constitute Sexual Assault in your eyes? Should that be reported to the Resource Officer ? I am not commenting one way or the other, I just remember it being a persistent problem for many, many girls when I was in Junior High, and even remember girls doing it to each other as well.
7 April 2009
at 1:08 p.m.

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Jersey_Girl (Anonymous) says…

I think this also says a lot about the staff at Central that these students felt comfortable enough to come forward and tell them about these incidents. I'm sure a good share of this behavior goes on at the other 3 junior highs.

7 April 2009
at 4:21 p.m.

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nekansan (Anonymous) says…

“there are “layers of discretion” in regard to how school officials and the particular school resource officer report offenses.”

Really?

It was my understanding that Kansas was a mandatory reporting state. Reading the publications from the state it says “Any of the following persons who has reason to suspect that a child has been harmed as a result of physical, mental or emotional abuse or neglect or sexual abuse” must report it to the Secretary of Social and Rehabilitation Services.

It does not specify the level of harm so it seems pretty clear in order to comply with the law they must report every case no matter how minor. It's amazing how uneducated our educators seem to be at times.
7 April 2009
at 5:07 p.m.

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PierceHarlan (Anonymous) says…

I am astounded by some of the comments here. As an attorney, these two are perhaps the most offensive: “What defines sexual assault is different to different people and contributes to the 'not rape' epidemic.” And: “The bottom line is that if young girls (or guys) are feeling offended by inappropriate touching… Than it DOES need to be reported.”

Both of these comments are uninformed. Sexual assault has a defined legislative meaning. There is no “not rape” epidemic.” There is a false rape epidemic, but not a “not rape” epidemic. Sexual assault is never, ever determined based on a girl's subjective “experience.” Whether she feels “violated” has nothing to do with the legal definition, and this seems to be the crux of the problem here. According to you (and I am assuming you are both mothers), young men somehow must mold their conduct to fit an amorphous, free-floating, moving target of a subjective and secret whim of your daughter's “experience,” including, presumably, her after-the-fact, ex-post facto, false and belated hissy fits of regret about having participated in youthful hijinks. Let us be perfectly candid.

Won't cut it, ladies.

You are both spreading fear-mongering, Chicken Little fables whose moral is — mistrust young men! (that's novel, isn't it?) — a tale for girls already overly-saturated with warnings to be overly-wary of the opposite sex. And heaven forbid if one of “them” dares put a hand on my Princess! Even if she invites it.

And Shaunpec, I am more than well aware that “[e]ven if an arrest wasn't made, it doesn't mean it didn't happen.” Thanks for the criminal law lesson. I believe I learned that in criminal law class almost 30 years ago. Tell me, would you be willing to concede that even if an arrest WAS made, it may not have happened? That's the point, isn't it? We do not know. There is no evidence, much less an adjudication, that anything did happen.

And Jersey Girl, yes, the girls might not have wanted to press charges and didn't. And they might have lied, too, right? I direct you to my Web site: http://falserapesociety.blogspot.com/ Again, you have no idea.

I know, I know: the angry parents on this thread who disagree with me have convicted these boys before a single shred of evidence has been admitted at trial. The boys have lost the trial even before it has begun in the court of last resort, the local mothers' sewing circle. Due process be damned.

Your comments are indefensible and legally invalid. But lest I be accused of being too harsh on you, though your comments deserve it, please tell me with specificity what these boys did to your daughters that has you so up-in-arms? Exactly what?
7 April 2009
at 7:05 p.m.

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igby (Anonymous) says…

30 years ago it was common for junior high school boys to pinch girl on the butt. Now it's a crime. God forbid your kids grow up to be normal males and females. You'd rather have gay children that are so uptight about their sexuality to the point of thinking they were born gay. Lol.

They will still be on your couch when they are 40. Lol.

Mommy! Lol.
12 April 2009
at 12:41 a.m.

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mom_of_three (Anonymous) says…

harlan, I hope you are never a lawyer for anyone I know, because you are a heartless individual. Horseplay, or whatever you call it, is still demoralizing, harmful, and terrorizing to a girl or to whomever it happens to, because you don't know what may happen next. When I was in high school, a new guy in school was a flirt. One day, after track practice, we were left alone in the room, putting stuff away. He took a Pugalist stick (the one with the pillows on the end) and touched by breast. I thought it was an accident, but he did it again. Then he turned out the lights, and I got out of there as soon as I could. I fled to the gym, and he followed me, apologizing. When I stopped and turned around, he tried to run his hands down the front of my shirt, which was all snaps, to unbutton it. I ran again, and tried to find anyone, and found a classmate, who happened to be leaving. I was terrified and didn't know what to do. I started walking outside of the school, and he followed me. Thankfully, my dad drove up. I didn't tell him until after we left the school, and he told me next time to kick him as hard as I could. Maybe that isn't sexual assault as you describe it, maybe it was just harmless pranks. but it terrified me. I am glad students in this day and age can report these incidents because I wasn't able to.