A Gwinnett County father said he is disgusted after his 5-year-old son was allegedly sexually assaulted at a Suwanee school — and he won’t be taking him back.
The incident happened Oct. 31 at Level Creek Elementary School, Gwinnett County Schools spokeswoman Sloan Roach said in an email.
The father, who isn’t named because The Atlanta Journal-Constitution doesn’t identify victims of sexual assault, said he is helpless to prosecute because the person responsible is another 5-year-old boy.
“If an adult sexually assaulted a child, they would be tried, punished and looked at worse than a murderer,” the father said. “We are not taking (our son) back to Level Creek until some accountability is taken.”
The attack was captured on the school’s video surveillance and the father said he was allowed to watch with his son’s mother.
“(We) viewed the video that clearly shows three boys involved in the incident,” the father said.
Three boys and the son were waiting in line in the gymnasium area for parents to pick up students after school. The father said his son’s classmate threatened to “punch him in the face” if the boy didn’t expose himself.
He said the incident happened in front of hundreds of students and teachers, who were seen on the video.
The father wants the child who touched his son to be psychologically evaluated in part because of the specific language the boy used and the actions he took.
When the father asked the principal what would be done, the principal said he had never encountered an incident like this and needed to talk to the county to see what to do.
Roach said the school conducted an investigation and followed the discipline office’s guidance regarding consequences for the student based on age.
“I cannot believe that there was no expulsion, suspension, or any form of academic punishment for this behavior,” the father said. “My son was sexually assaulted by another child and nothing was done!”
Roach said a school resource officer reached out to the family and that the parents said they did not want to pursue prosecution, so the school reported the incident to the Division of Family and Children Services and to the District Attorney’s office.
The father said he was made to believe he could take no action because of the age of the attacker.
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