Sexual Assault At School Dance Handled Improperly, Parents Say

GAMBRILLS, MD — The parents of an Arundel High School student are pressing Anne Arundel County Public Schools to improve the way the school system handles sexual assaults on school property after their 16-year-old daughter reported being sexually assaulted during the Gambrills school's homecoming dance last month. Police are still investigating the case as a possible fourth-degree sex offense.

The student's father addressed the county council about the incident and her mother has spoken to the county board of education, too. The girl and her parents have not been named to help protect her identity.

The student's mother asked school officials to distribute a letter after the incident requesting witnesses come forward with information about the assault, but school leaders declined. However, Arundel High School Principal Gina Davenport sent a letter Monday after an email exchange between the student's mother and the principal was posted on social media, drawing criticism of the school's handling of the situation, reported the Capital Gazette.

According to the school, the student reported to a parent chaperone that she was grabbed inappropriately while at the homecoming dance in September.

"When I arrived my daughter was sitting at a table crying. I walked in and sat down next to her and asked what happened," she told the newspaper.

But her daughter was too upset to speak, so a school official explained to her mother that she had been sexually assaulted. A school resource officer wrote down the student's name and took her statement. Together with school officials, an investigation was launched during the dance, Davenport wrote in a letter sent to the school community. But the girl’s mother said the letter contains misinformation about how the incident was handled.

“I knew it was damage control, that is where they are at right now,” she told the Capital Gazette. They want to say they did everything right.”

Davenport insisted in her letter that school administration followed protocol and conducted a "thorough investigation" during the dance and afterward.

"The decision against sending a letter home with students was not based in any way on the credibility of the victim. We have absolutely no reason to doubt the statement she provided. Rather, that decision – made in consultation with school system officials – was based on the sensitive nature of the case, a desire to protect and continue to support the victim, and the scarcity of information about a suspect," Davenport wrote in her letter.

Davenport wrote that school staff interviewed the student and others who were present at the time of the incident but no one could identify a suspect.

“At no time was anyone interviewed able to provide the name of the suspect or any description beyond the initial one provided to the administrators,” Davenport wrote in the letter. "Additionally, at no time did any other student tell any administrator that he or she had been the victim of a similar act.”

According to Davenport's letter, those interviewed provided a description that included a skin tone, a shirt color, that the suspect was wearing glasses and had dark hair.

At the Wednesday, Oct. 23, school board meeting Superintendent George Arlotto spoke about the district's protocol for handling reports of sexual assault. He said he misspoke and released a statement Oct. 24.

“During last night’s board of education meeting, in response to questions from board members, I made an erroneous statement when I said that our school system has no written protocols for handling sexual assault reports. In my mind I was thinking of publicly published protocols, but nonetheless the thought I expressed to those in attendance and those watching the meeting was incorrect. I apologize for that mistake. Our school system does have established protocols, detailed in a chart of appropriate steps and actions that is adaptable depending on the nature of the case. As I alluded to last night, that information is used in principal trainings on this subject. The chart is now available to the public on the Student Support Services section of our website.”