JONESBORO, Ark. – A juvenile is in hot water over his behavior at school that included inappropriately touching his teacher in a case initially investigated as sexual assault before being amended to harassment.
At 10:30 AM Friday, September 7, at Jonesboro High School, Officer Brian Sawyer was on duty as the school resource officer. He was requested to the office where he met with the assistant principal, Dr. Jeff Flanigan, and others. The officer was told by Flanigan that the suspect student, 16, was behaving unusually – as if he was on a substance of some kind.
His behavior included allegedly walking over to the teacher and touching her buttocks, while mumbling something about “her GD old ass,” the police report said. It also said he commented in class, “my dick hurts.”
There were witnesses to the behavior including other students and teachers.
“He was speaking in a tone that was extremely loud and he made repeated inappropriate comments that were disrupting the class,” said an instructor.
The suspect student was seen putting a plastic bag in the trash with red powdery residue, the report said. The bag was retrieved as evidence.
The suspect student was given a 10-day out of school suspension with recommendation of long-term placement at Success School. Detectives reviewed the case and noted it would have qualified as Class A Misdemeanor of Harassment, rather than a sexual assault charge, because “there was no sexual contact by forcible compulsion, no sexual contact by a person unable to give consent, and the actor was not employed as a teacher, law enforcement officer, or public official.”
The case was referred to the juvenile office for consideration of any charge.
What if the student was returned to that same class after the 10-day suspension? would the district be liable or negligent or what? if that were the case the school seems like they did not take the incident seriously? what do you think?