The PNJ has reviewed the alleged sexual at Tate High School, meeting with the ECSO and Superintendent Malcolm Thomas and determined that there was no cover up, according to the paper’s Monday editorial. No, the paper thinks the Tate officials were just “unclear about the legal status of the complaint, and that at least initially they viewed it more as a disruptive incident than a potentially criminal act.”
What part of the phrase “sexual assault” did the deans, assistant principals and principal not understand?
Superintendent Thomas is even quoted: “We just see two kids acting in an inappropriate manner, not that one is 16 and one is 14. Now, we’re going to have to start asking the age early in the investigation.”
Now does that quote make a parent feel better? A parent says “sexual assault,” but officials think of it as merely “two kids acting in an inappropriate manner.”
The kids were ninth graders. You can’t tell me that the faculty and Tate administration didn’t know the ages of the kids.
The paper faults the the School Resource Officer, but completely ignores how the Tate officials, at the instruction of Carolyn Spooner (Director – High School Education), refused to give statements to the ECSO SVU investigator. It doesn’t question why the girl remained suspended even after her alleged assailant was arrested. No mention that the sex act happened in a classroom.
The PNJ calls this simply a “wake-up call”……In other words, move along, folks. There’s nothing else to the Tate incident. Please check the PNJ’s latest bikini photos. Maybe we can talk more about a sheriff thanking citizens for being on juries.
Unbelievable! The PNJ editorial board must not have any daughters in public education. This “kids will be kids” attitude towards this incident is something from the 60’s or 70’s.