Parents: Ind. school downplayed 'touching' incident

INDIANAPOLIS -- Last week when three Indianapolis elementary school students were suspended, school officials said it was because they were engaging in an "inappropriate touching game."

But some parents say what happened to their children was not a game, nor was it consensual, as school officials said last week. The parents are now considering legal action against the school that they say downplayed what happened. School officials learned of the students' actions Tuesday.

One parent said her child was attacked by a boy in their fifth-grade class in the library at Crestview Elementary School.

"This young man pushed her down," the parent said, who is considering pressing charges against the school and the boy involved. She said the boy "got on top of her" and rubbed up against her.

"She felt his genitals on her genitals," the mother said.

"That's not tag," she said. "That's assault."

That parent, whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of the child, has since pulled her daughter out of school, and said she is waiting to hear back from the Lawrence Township school district about transferring to another school. She also has contacted the Indiana Department of Child Services.

Speaking to the Indianapolis Star on Friday, Lawrence Township Schools spokeswoman Mary Louise Bewley said the incidents involved the students briefly touching each other -- for example, on the seat of their pants. At the time, she did not specify which students had been suspended.

"Think of it as kids passing a note and a teacher doesn't see it," she said. "It's just that quick. It wasn't that there were kids being held against their will and having things done to them. It was quick touches."

Bewley did not return calls Sunday. But Carol Helmus, president of the Lawrence Township Schools Board, said the school's administration had already launched an investigation into what happened.

"They had been handling all of the incidents with all of the children that were involved," said Helmus.

Helmus said the investigation was thorough, but she did not know whether it was ongoing.

Another parent, however, said the school did not handle the incident properly -- including one instance last week, where his 10-year-old daughter said the same boy "swiped" at her genitals three times within a 15-minute period.

"She was walking down the hall, sobbing," he said. "What is a 10-year-old to do? She's never been confronted with that."

The girl, who spoke to The Star, said instances of inappropriate touching have been going on since the beginning of the school year, but other girls were too afraid to say anything, instead hitting back at the boy.

But when it happened to her Tuesday, she said she told principal Kim Brown -- but wasn't allowed to speak to her parents until after school.

"I want an apology from the kid that did this to me," the girl said. "And I want an apology from the principal."

The Star could not reach Brown on Sunday for comment.

The girl's father said he was outraged when Brown sent an email to fifth-grade parents Wednesday, calling the inappropriate touching a "game."

Later that evening, Brown sent another email, this time omitting the "game" phrase and instead describing what the man says happened to his daughter as inappropriate touching.

"Disciplinary actions have been assigned," Brown wrote. "Parents, please know that the safety of your students is our number one priority. I ask you to work with us by talking to your student about the importance of sharing with an adult if he or she has been touched in a way that makes him or her feel uncomfortable."

The father said he doesn't want his daughter to leave the school, but is frustrated with the school's response -- including what he understood was a decision to keep the boy at Crestview and make him finish the semester in isolation from other students.

"I believe he is confused," he said. "I believe he needs help."

He said he believed at least five girls, including his daughter, were touched inappropriately.

"Our school is a good school," he said, but "nobody will help us."