California Six Year-Old Faces Playground Sex Assault Claim

School officials have been criticized for heavy-handedness after an East Bay family faces sexual assault claims against their 6-year-old son.

A 6-year-old boy from Hercules, California (San Francisco) has been accused of sexual assault after a misunderstanding during a playground game of tag.

The parent said his son was accused of brushing his best friend’s leg or groin while the two were playing on the playground at Lupine Hills Elementary in Hercules two months ago, reports CBS San Francisco.

The boy was kept in the principal’s office for two hours. After he confessed the principal decided to suspend him, and a sexual battery charge was placed on his permanent school record.

Marilyn Cheeks, a Lupine Hills Elementary parent, said:

“To me, I think it’s an overreaction.”

While a six year-old cannot be legally charged with sexual assault in the state, Marin Trujillo, a spokesman for the West Contra Costa Unified School District, said:

“We must take any allegation of assault involving a child very seriously.”

The decision has been derided by members of the community, writes Scott James at the Bay Citizen.

Other parents have discussed the case on the Berkeley Parents Network, a popular online forum for area families.

“That principal and school is so insanely out of line,” said one comment.

“This kind of thing makes me livid,” said another.

Many parents wrote about their own experiences with such heavy-handedness, with one citing a time when their child was suspended for “hugging”.

While incidents like these are seemingly on the rise – including one last year where a 7-year-old girl faced sexual harassment charges in Boston — experts believe they are part of an emerging national trend.

Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, believes that the latest trend of anti-bullying policies “set forth pretty strong rules regarding categories of behavior.” And this, he believes, may have unintended consequences.

“This means there’s less room, and more risk, for principals who would make sensible accommodations based on student age and the circumstances in question,” he said.

Stuart Lustig, a child psychiatrist at the University of California – San Francisco, thinks that we shouldn’t overreact when young children to touch each other’s genital areas.

“It’s curiosity,” he said.

“It’s not sexual in the adult sense.”

Lustig added that it would only become a concern if a young child does not stop when told the behavior is inappropriate, writes James.

“Schools can sometimes respond very strongly because of the legal environment,” he said.

Comments

Jack

January 31, 2012 at 2:52 pm

Sounds like a feamale principle who doesn’t like little boys.
Two hours of interrogation of a 7 year old. You have got to have an agenda .

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Linda Brees

January 31, 2012 at 4:37 pm

He wasn’t interrogated for two hours. He was in the office for two hours, probably waiting for his parents to get there. That’s perfectly standard. I suggest you read up a little bit if you think this is some kind of imaginary problem that men-hating teachers are making up. (Especially since the article mentions just a few paragraphs down that a girl was recently suspended for a similar thing.) Child on child sexual assault isn’t something that’s invented by people out to piss you off, Jack.

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- Big Ugly
  
  February 3, 2012 at 8:01 am
  
  Linda – I suggest that you use the brain that your Creator God gave you for something other than an anchor for the roots of your hair.
  …. and, NO, it does not matter whether you “believe” in the Creator God, or not ……. somethings are “true” whether you understand or not.
  
  Reply
Kevin

January 31, 2012 at 4:39 pm

It looks like his friend thought it was a problem since he complained about what happened to a teacher. Of course the school needs to investigate.

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Dave

February 1, 2012 at 7:07 pm

Sorry Kevin,
Where does it say the the friend was the one who complained.
It says “the son was accused of brushing his best friends’s leg or groin”.
It doesn’t say who saw it or who complained.

Linda – really? One 6yo sexually assaulting another 6yo?
This could be the end of rational sane society as we know it!
Talk about over reacting.
You take the boy aside and let him know that “boys don’t do that to their friends” and move on.
The more of an issue we adults make of it the more the kids will fixate on it.
This is anpohther case of leading by example – the wrong example.

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Wayne

February 4, 2012 at 10:51 am

Someone taught a child to report any time they are touched. That’s not a bad thing. Telling an adult, especially a teacher or other school official, should be the most reasonable thing in the world.

However if more consideration isn’t given to the hiring of an adult and one is hired into a position and can’t decide between ‘sexual assault’ and ‘oops, someone bumped into me’ – I think someone needs to interrogate the adult.

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