According to one family’s account, their daughter was sexually assaulted during a field trip in 2012. Recently, parents, and others, from the same school staged a protest lamenting what they believe to be a delay of action on the part of the school administrators in investigating the rape allegations. Furthermore, no criminal charges resulted after the Washington incident was reported.
The girl’s parents claim that the school waited several months before investigating after they went to the school with their allegations. They have claimed that no one acted to conduct a thorough review in order to determine whether the alleged crime occurred. However, school board officials have stated that once the claims were investigated, there was no conclusive proof that the incident took place.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations is currently conducting its own review of the situation to determine whether the school was in violation of any of the standards that it was required to follow. However, once the minor’s parents approached the school’s administration, an investigation was purportedly carried out by the school, the FBI and the park’s officials, none of which found evidence to support the rape allegations. The family of the supposed victim has since left the Seattle area.
While the school district has vowed to improve its response to allegations in the future, one board member did remark that there was never any criminal charges filed against any individual in connection to the alleged rape in spite of two separate investigations. Moreover, this member also reminded the attendees that without evidence of wrongdoing, then no one can be considered guilty in the context of assuming that another has been a victim. Washington residents are entitled to a presumption of innocence until a conviction has been secured against them in a court of law. Additionally, an accused person is entitled to present a compelling defense while working to clear his or her name of any criminal charges, regardless of the nature of the alleged crime.
Source: komonews.com, “Protesters criticize Seattle school’s handling of alleged rape“, Lindsay Cohen, Aug. 20, 2014