Brooklyn School's Second Sexual Assault Victim Criticizes Education Department Officials

Another former student of Teachers Preparatory High School, Brooklyn, New York, who was sexually assaulted in the school came forward and criticized the city’s Education Department officials, Monday, after reading a previous report which stated the school punished a student who was gang-raped within the premises in 2016.

According to an exclusive report by New York Daily News, the woman, 21, whose name is being withheld was sexually assaulted in the school in 2010 when she was 14-years-old.

The school, earlier in January, was subjected to a lawsuit which stated that the school suspended an intellectually disabled student who was gang-raped in Feb. 2016, while the school tried to keep the case hidden.

The report further stated the woman asked of the school authorities: How could they let it happen again?

"I felt so sorry for that girl in the story," the woman said with regards to the 2016 victim.

"The school wasn’t safe for me and wasn’t safe for her," the woman continued. "I don’t think that school is safe for anyone. I don’t think it should even be open."

The report stated that the woman’s family received $500,000 from the city when the case was settled in 2015. She suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after the incident.

While a student at the school, the woman was sodomized by another student who was aged 18 in 2010. The perpetrator was arrested and pleaded guilty to numerous crimes associated with the incident.

Steven Williamson, the woman’s attorney said the victim received permission from the teacher to go to the bathroom when the attacker forced her into a stairwell and attacked her.

Williamson said: "The failures of the school at that time created a dangerous environment that directly led to this incident."

The woman’s mother, Rhonda Taylor, stated that after eight years, her daughter was still recovering.

Taylor said: "At first she didn’t want anyone to touch her. She was very angry."

"I can hug her now, and her brother can hug her, but it took a long time. It’s been a long process," Taylor added.

Taylor, who is herself disabled, asked with regards to the 2016 gang-rape incident: "How does this continue to happen?"

"I don’t know what happened to the public school system in this city," added Taylor.

Carrie Goldberg, the attorney litigating the 2016 gang-rape case, stated the school continued to be a dangerous place regardless of the fact that the city was aware of a supervision problem.

Goldberg stated there was an assistant principal who was assigned to the school during the time both attacks took place. However, that school official did not talk on the matter when asked for a comment, the report said.

Goldberg continued: "I was horrified and nauseated and heartbroken upon learning that it was the same stairwell and same vice principal."

"It makes me believe that punishing our client for 'consensual sex' was to cover up the fact that nonconsensual sex happened in the same place, on the same administrator’s watch," she added.

Miranda Barbot, a spokeswoman for the Education Department said the school put new surveillance cameras in place for better safety.

Barbot said: "Safety always comes first and we have increased security measures at Teachers Prep High School."

"We worked closely with the school to appropriately address these troubling incidents and this case has been settled," she added.