The mother of 12-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted at school twice in one week, is blasting education officials for not doing more to protect her child. Nicole Welcome blasted the school Thursday (Oct. 20), after a hearing for one of the boys accused of trying to rape her daughter.
“I feel like my daughter is scarred for the rest of her life,” the 29-year-old mom said outside of a Brooklyn courthouse, according to the New York Daily News. “It’s disgusting for a parent to learn her daughter was almost raped inside a school building.”
Four boys, ranging from ages 12 to 14, were reportedly arrested for the assault, although the city Law Department has yet to file charges. The boys attended Mott Hall No. 4 Middle School, which is housed in the same building as Ocean Hill Collegiate Charter School, where Welcome’s daughter attended school.
The child was assaulted on Sept. 30 and again on Oct. 6. The latter incident reportedly occurred at around 5:00 p.m., at the bottom of a basement stairwell. Police say one boy pushed the girl and stole her $4 bus pass, while another is accused of touching the girl inappropriately after pinning her to the ground and pulling her pants down.
Welcome maintains that the school didn’t know about the first incident until the second attempted rape was reported by a school janitor.
In a statement released Friday (Oct. 21), the school maintains that it called Welcome “immediately” after learning of the second assault, which fell on the Friday before a holiday weekend. Parents were informed when students returned to school the following Tuesday (Oct. 10).
“The school called the student’s mother immediately after it learned of the incident, which occurred well after students had been dismissed from the building and after the building should have been locked by School Safety,” reads the statement. “The school has been cooperating fully with the investigation, and has been supporting the student and her mother during this difficult time.”
Welcome’s daughter has transferred to another school.