• 25
  • August
    2010

On this blog, we focus on sexual harassment in the workplace, but it's important to remember that instances of abuse and indiscretion can happen anywhere. Upper St. Claire High School, in Pennsylvania, is shaping up to be a tragic example of this.

In early 2008, a freshman special education student went to her teachers to report a classmate who had attempted to fondle her on multiple occasions. At the time, the male student in question was already being watched following reports of sexual harassment and one report of sexual assault.

To that point, the school's response to these allegations had been a detention and some reading material on inappropriate behavior for the boy.

However, according to students, the actions taken against him had not done much to discourage the student. New allegations of inappropriate behavior prompted some of the teachers to ask the school's vice principle for help coordinating a plan to escort the girls to the school bus after school.

The principle brushed the plan off, instead opting to "set up a 'sting'" to catch students he purportedly assumed were having consensual relations on school grounds. The teachers did not escort the students to the bus and, according to a lawsuit filed against the school, the boy raped one of the girls.

The school has been adamant in denying allegations against it, even posting a letter online at one point defending itself. It has since been taken down.

Sexual harassment, wherever it takes place, is unacceptable and should be addressed immediately and definitively. This story, if proven true, is a tragic example of what happens when reports go unheeded and abuse is allowed to continue.

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