Police Investigate Sexual Assault During Homecoming Game At Arlington High School

ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington County Police are investigating a sexual assault that occurred Friday night during the Yorktown High School homecoming game, according to the daily crime report.

Officers responded around 4:57 p.m. Saturday to the 5200 block of Yorktown Boulevard for the late report of a sexual assault. The juvenile victim told police she was walking in the area of Yorktown's homecoming game around 9 p.m. on Friday, when someone inappropriately touched her. Police did not release a suspect description.

On Saturday afternoon, Principal Kevin Clark sent an email to the Yorktown community, providing details about the Friday night incident.

"Students reported that during the halftime performance and thereafter, several students harassed fellow Yorktown students using inappropriate and unacceptable language of a sexual nature and inappropriately touched a student," Clark said. "This created an unsafe environment and does not reflect the values of our students and staff at Yorktown, where we teach Respect for Others, Community and Self (ROCS) at all times.

"We harshly condemn the actions of these students and will not tolerate such behavior at any Yorktown or APS activity. We are taking these reports seriously and are investigating them thoroughly. Students found to be responsible for this behavior will be held accountable. Additionally, we will take immediate measures so that all students have a safe environment to learn and participate in school activities.

"This type of behavior impacts our entire school community. We need your support to address this moving forward and encourage you to speak to your child about the importance of positive and safe interactions."

Clark asked anyone with information about the incident to contact him directly at kevin.clark@apsva.us or 703-228-5404.

The email contained the list of steps Clark implemented to ensure similar incidents would not occur at future games:

• Limiting student ticket sales to future athletic events to reflect facility limitations and capacities
• On-field viewing of half-time performances for seniors suspended
• Designating specific areas for each grade level of students
• Coaches of all sports will meet with their team to discuss appropriate behavior at events and to have players encourage peers to represent themselves appropriately at games
• Continued supervision of students by administrators and security staff
• Fully investigate and address reported behavior from the football game.

Clark's email also included restrictions for those who planned to attend Saturday night's Homecoming Dance at the school.