Elementary school students detail disturbing allegations against Rialto Unified schools
RIALTO, Calif. - FOX 11 is learning of disturbing new allegations against a Rialto elementary school.
An 8-year-old girl can’t even repeat what she read on a computer reading app, shared by her classmates at Charlotte Werner Elementary, as she is too ashamed of the words. But her aunt can, angrily, as she claims that a 9-year-old boy in the girls’ class had written that he wanted to rape her and another classmate.
"She was crying and was like ‘aunty I don’t want to go to school tomorrow. On the boy’s profile it stated that she was going to be raped, along with another girl because (explicit) taste so good. She then went to her teacher," said the girl’s aunt Meghann Bates.
"I told my teacher there was something really disgusting and he said ok I’ll check it after recess. They asked me if I can tell them what it said and I said no, so they gave me a piece of paper to write it down," the 8-year-old girl told FOX 11.
According to the family, school officials refused to let her call her family, even asking her to delete the message and supposedly telling the family later that the boy "didn’t seem like that kind of kid"
RELATED:
- More students accuse school officials of covering up sexual assaults at a Rialto high school
- School in Rialto at center of controversy over sex abuse reporting protocols
- Two assistant principals charged for failing to report multiple on-campus sex assaults
The same family, which recently moved to Rialto, says they had to pull the girls’ older cousins from Rialto’s middle school, where they are supposedly getting body parts slapped, touched and squeezed every week. They insist that certain of the days of the weeks are known as "slap the (behind) Friday" or "grab the (girls’ chest) day" even "squeeze the (boy’s privates) Monday".
Officials at both schools referred FOX 11 to Rialto Unified, where they are already dealing with the arrest of two vice principals at one of their high schools for allegedly not reporting sexual abuse reported to them by students.
District officials say they are investigating and cooperating with Rialto Police on the allegations coming in.
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The school district released the following statement: "The District has recently become aware of allegations of misconduct by students allegedly occurring at various schools in the District. While these allegations are being investigated, legal constraints prevent us from commenting publicly about these matters. The District assures its community that the safety and security of the District’s students is our top priority.
The District will work cooperatively with law enforcement and has commenced its own investigations into these allegations. The District will not be issuing any information related to these matters as these matters are protected by confidentiality laws protecting students and employees.
We understand and share the community’s concern regarding these serious allegations and want the community to know the District is taking affirmative steps to protect our students from harm.
We encourage anyone who feels they have been subjected to sexual misconduct or inappropriate behavior to report it to a teacher, counselor, or administrator."
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