Weeks after allegations arose of a 6-year-old being sexually assaulted by another student in Plainview Independent School District, administrators released a statement detailing “key findings” from their investigation of the incident.
The statement released late Wednesday night completely contradicts allegations parents have made about the incident, which occurred nearly three weeks ago.
The victim, a 6-year-old female student at South Elementary in PISD, was allegedly forced to perform an oral sex act on a 6-year-old male student as she fought back with her poetry book and begged him to stop. The incident was recorded on a password-locked school-issued iPad.
PISD claimed law enforcement personnel who viewed the recording “determined that a sexual assault did not occur; rather, mutual inappropriate sexual contact occurred between two 6-year-old students.”
Despite allegations by the girl’s family that she fought the boy with her poetry book, PISD claimed the video did not show any signs of struggle or a cry for help.
Family members said the school did not inform them about the incident; they only learned about it several days later because they noticed something was wrong with the young girl and finally convinced her to share what had happened.
However, PISD officials claimed they contacted the parents of the two students the same night they found the recording on the iPad.
Other parents say the district kept them in the dark, and teachers alleged they were not allowed to speak about the incident without the risk of losing their jobs.
Administrators, however, said Child Protective Services instructed district personnel not to discuss the event.
Parents alleged that the teacher who was in the classroom during the incident was wearing an earbud and listening to “calming music” while helping another group of students. PISD’s statement contradicts that: “The teacher was not wearing ‘headphones’ or ‘earbuds’ per surveillance video from the hallway to where the teacher was seated at the time of the incident.”
The district’s statements concluded, “We cannot speak to the conclusion of the Hale Country District Attorney or FBI. The law in the State of Texas does not provide for criminal penalties for children under the age of 10, and public schools are prohibited from expelling or suspending children in 3rd grade or below.”
Parents of students at PISD say this is not the first time Superintendent HT Sánchez has dismissed serious allegations of irresponsibility.
Sánchez also reportedly tried to cover up a scandal when he was the superintendent for Tucson Unified School in Arizona.
On May 6, PISD families held a protest over the district’s and school officials’ actions. District officials refuse to take responsibility and continue to brush off the incident.
The next PISD board meeting is May 18 at 6 p.m., and Sánchez’ contract is on the posted agenda.
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