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发帖数: 2038 | 1 10-year-old boys charged with sexual assault on school bus
By Ericka Mellon, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Updated 07:32 p.m., Friday, January 6, 2012
Houston police have charged two 10-year-old boys from the Houston school
district with aggravated sexual assault, accusing the duo of victimizing an
8-year-old boy on a school bus.
The arrests took place Wednesday - five months after the Houston Independent
School District uncovered surveillance video from the school bus and turned
it over to the Houston Police Department.
Police said charges were not filed sooner because the case involved
juveniles.
"It is not atypical for investigations into cases involving juvenile
suspects and victims to take time to properly document and review all
evidence before an arrest is made," police said in a statement.
Such charges against juveniles are "exceedingly unusual," said Bill Hawkins,
a juvenile defense attorney who previously ran the juvenile division of the
Harris County District Attorney's office.
"When you look at the overall numbers, children as young as 10 do not commit
a lot of crimes," he said.
If convicted, the juveniles could face up to 40 years in confinement between
the juvenile and adult systems, or a court could decide they don't require
any supervision.
On Friday, two mothers stood a few feet away from each other at a news
conference outside Thompson Elementary School in south Houston. One said her
son was the victim of sexual abuse. The other said her son was charged in
the case.
Houston community activist Quanell X, who said he was working with both
mothers, said he thinks the case has holes. He said the parents have not
been allowed to watch the video, and initially were told that nothing had
happened.
"Somebody's lying like hell in this case in HISD and in law enforcement," he
said.
The mother of the alleged victim said she learned of the alleged abuse about
a month after the school year began when police called her after watching
the surveillance video. She said she had noticed her son come home with his
belt off or his pants button undone, but had not thought much of it.
Now, she said, "He has a hard time sleeping. He's just been having a hard
time. He cries a lot."
The Houston Chronicle is not identifying the mother to protect the juvenile.
The mother of one of the accused boys said her son knows the difference
between right and wrong, and she doesn't believe he did anything wrong.
"I don't know what went on on that bus, but I don't believe that went on,"
she said. |
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