Students Accuse Connecticut School Of Mishandling Sexual Assault Complaints

Four female students from Staples High School, Westport, Connecticut, claimed the school administration failed to take any action when they reported a male student for sexual assault.

The girls made the allegations Monday during a Westport Public Schools Board of Education meeting, which was held to discuss the district’s current sexual harassment policy.

Sophia Sherman, one of the four female students, addressed the board and said, “This year I was a victim of sexual assault by someone in the school setting. I discovered that there were four other girls who had faced the same thing from the same guy,” according to a report in the Connecticut Post.

After Sherman’s complaint, the policy discussion quickly changed into a conversation about how sexual assault was handled at Westport schools. The four Staples High School seniors did not even hesitate to criticize their school and administrators for failing to take proper action against instances of assault.

During the address, Sherman revealed she and three other girls together reported the boy for alleged sexual assault. She said the alleged victims and the boy were friends at one point.

“Basically, what came of that was a stern talking to (for the boy), which we also received, saying that we were not allowed to make it a hostile environment for him. And that if we talked about it, if we spoke about it, if we confided in friends, that we would be punished for making this a hard place for him,” Sherman revealed to the school board.

According to her, instead of assault, the case was termed as harassment, which supposedly better-described boy’s actions. Sherman added their case was treated lightly even after the alleged abuser admitted to the wrongdoings, Westport News reported.

Another senior named Sydney Carson shared her experience about the incident and said, “It has been observed by me and many others that the procedure for staff when faced with reports of sexual assaults off or on campus, is little to none.‘Let it go’, that’s what they say. And by they I don’t mean my peers, I mean the school and the administration, seated behind their desks telling me that the best thing to do is to let it go and that that’s what’s best for everyone.”

Olivia Payne, another student, also shared a similar incident about the time she was assaulted and urged the administration to bring a cultural shift in the school’s handling of sexual misconduct.

“This school and others in the community need to seriously reassess how we deal with sexual misconduct and its perpetrators. We need a community where survivors can come forward without fear of retaliation and feel that they are cared for,” Payne said.

Although the board did not rule out the existing harassment policy of the school, after hearing the girl’s testimony, Superintendent Colleen Palmer weighed in on the issue and reassured that the wellbeing of the students is of grave importance.

"I'll be touching base with high school administrators to make sure that you feel, when you come forward, that we do listen to you," she said.