The principal of a Portland school where a nine-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped is being criticized for not taking the case to police, as a lawsuit by the girl’s family claims there were two prior incidents of sexual assault against the little one
Last month, the family of the unidentified girl filed a $9 million lawsuit after she was allegedly attacked in her elementary school bathroom by two boys.
The lawsuit alleges that in 2022, when the little girl was in third grade at Scott Elementary School in Portland, a classmate touched her genitals over her clothing without her permission.
According to the lawsuit, a teacher was supervising the class in which the alleged sexual assault took place. In another incident, a student attempted to kiss the girl without her consent, prompting the girl to hit him in self-defense.
Then, in April 2022, two other students from the after-school group Escuelas Uniendo Vecindarios (SUN) told the girl that they would “find out where she lived” unless she told the teacher she was going to the bathroom.
The principal of a Portland school where a nine-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped is being criticized for not taking the case to police, as a lawsuit by the girl’s family claims there were two prior incidents of sexual assault against the girl.
José Salinas was announced as interim principal of Schott Elementary School on July 15, 2021 and served as the school’s leader until October 2023.
In the bathroom, the students removed her pants and took turns forcibly penetrating the girl while she begged them to stop, according to the lawsuit, obtained by Oregon live.
They took turns blocking the bathroom door while the other raped her, the lawsuit alleges.
When the father of one of the male students involved learned of the disturbing incident, he notified school staff.
However, instead of going to police with deeply troubling allegations, school staff members took matters into their own hands, according to the legal filing.
“PPS staff conducted their own internal investigation,” the lawsuit said.
Staff interviewed the nine-year-old girl without notifying her family or legal representatives, according to court documents.
In response to the earlier incident involving the forced kiss, the two students were suspended and the girl’s father was told they would implement a “safety plan” for her.
The girl’s father eventually transferred her and her younger brother to a different school in the district, which took more than a month and disrupted their education, the lawsuit claims.
The alleged perpetrators were only suspended for one day.
Six days after the incident, her father took her to Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel for a medical checkup, which concluded that “the history provided was very concerning regarding sexual abuse.”
The lawsuit alleges three separate incidents in which the girl was sexually assaulted, including a student touching her genitals over her clothing, kissing her without permission and ‘gang raping’ her in a school bathroom.
The lawsuit describes how the disturbing rape incident left the girl to deal with trauma, pain, suffering, social anxiety and academic setbacks.
Portland Public Schools, along with SUN program affiliates, are being accused in the lawsuit of multiple failures, including failing to teach students about sexual boundaries, failing to enforce rules about sexual behavior on school property and failing to Communicate with other adult caregivers about the plaintiff’s history and safety. concerns.
José Salinas was announced as interim principal of Schott Elementary School on July 15, 2021 and served as the school’s leader until Tiana Ahmann was announced as interim principal in October 2023, more than a year after the incident occurred. .
“The district learned of these new allegations last week when we received the lawsuit and we are investigating,” said Sydney Kelly, spokesperson for Portland Public Schools.
‘We are mandated reporters, which means we must report any cases of possible child abuse and neglect. We take our responsibilities as mandated reporters seriously and follow the law regarding whistleblowing.’
DailyMail.com has contacted Scott Elementary School and the Portland Public Schools system for comment on this story.