Boy who sexually assaulted classmate allowed to return to school
Mother of victim says 15-year-old abuser ‘should not be allowed near my daughter or any woman’
The family of a schoolgirl who was sexually assaulted by another pupil has spoken out after her abuser was allowed to return to the classroom.
A youth court judge found the 15-year-old boy guilty of two counts of sexual assault against a female classmate. Neither party can be identified for legal reasons.
In addition to being placed on the sex offenders register, the teenager was handed a restraining order banning him from approaching or contacting the victim.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
However, he will be allowed to continue attending the same school, where the girl is still a pupil.
The victim’s mother told the BBC that the school should have excluded the boy as soon as he had been convicted.
“He should not be allowed near my daughter or any woman right now. I worry every single day, even now. I don't feel the boy was adequately punished at all,” she said.
The girl told BBC Inside Out East that she felt “powerless” as the boy groped her, despite her repeated pleas for him to stop.
“He started making comments about me, touching my legs and putting his hands on me. Then gradually he started putting his hands up my skirt, touching my chest and I kept telling him to stop,” she said.
“I wanted to leave but I felt like I couldn't do anything.”
She added that she felt betrayed at the decision to allow her abuser to return to school.
“I thought I wasn’t going to see him. They said I’m their main priority,” she said. “So now I have to just keep my head down, pretend he’s not there, otherwise it makes me panic.”
Department for Education guidelines state that, if a pupil is convicted of sexual assault against another pupil, schools should “consider any suitable sanctions... including consideration of permanent exclusion”, and stresses the importance of taking into account the “nature of the conviction or caution and wishes of the victim”.
The Independent says: “The school, which has not been identified for legal reasons, has said it followed all procedures correctly.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - November 3, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - presidential pitching, wavering convictions, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Why Man United finally lost patience with ten Hag
Talking Point After another loss United sacked ten Hag in hopes of success in the Champion's League
By The Week UK Published
-
Who are the markets backing in the US election?
Talking Point Speculators are piling in on the Trump trade. A Harris victory would come as a surprise
By The Week UK Published
-
English literature: is it doomed?
Speed Read Arts and humanities courses are under attack thanks to a shift to ‘skills-led’ learning
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Are UK classrooms a new political battleground?
Speed Read Government has issued new guidance on political neutrality in schools
By The Week Staff Published
-
Kathleen Stock resigns: the ‘hounding’ of an academic on the front line of transgender rights debate
Speed Read Sussex University students claim ‘trans and non-binary students are safer and happier for it’
By The Week Staff Published
-
How 100,000 ‘lost children’ disappeared from UK school system
Speed Read Experts warn that vulnerable pupils may be recruited by gangs after failing to return to education post-lockdown
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
The key findings of Ofsted’s survey on sexual harassment in schools
Why Everyone’s Talking About Watchdog says that most girls and half of boys have been sent explicit pictures
By Sorcha Bradley Last updated
-
Why is the government planning to cut arts education funding by 50%?
Speed Read Proposal described by critics as ‘catastrophic’ and ‘an attack on the future of UK arts’
By Kate Samuelson Last updated
-
Schools do not spread Covid-19, multiple studies find
Speed Read Reports from Germany, Norway and the WHO conclude schoolchildren are not vector of infection
By Holden Frith Published
-
Universities must consider refunding students hit by Covid disruption, regulator warns
Speed Read Institutions under investigation as thousands of undergraduates remain locked down amid coronavirus outbreaks
By Arion McNicoll Last updated