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Student allegedly suffered months
of sexual harassment at M.S. 158
BY JENNA BAGCAL
A student at a Bayside middle
school was allegedly the
victim of months of sexual harassment
at the hands of a fellow
student and the school did
little to help her.
According to a report from
the New York Post, starting
in September 2019, an eighth
grade student at M.S. 158 Marie
Curie repeatedly asked his female
classmate to have sex and
provide her bra size. In October,
the victim’s father alleged
that the student pulled down
his own pants in a classroom
and told another classmate “to
get the girl to join him.”
The teen’s parents were
irate and said the school did not
properly reprimand harassment
and bullying. The victim’s
father told the Post that school
administrators never informed
them about the situation.
“They gave him detention
and just put him back in the
class the next day and it got
worse from there,” her father
told the Post.
Classmates corroborated the
teen’s story and said the verbal
harassment turned physical in
November. The boy allegedly
demanded sex, touched her leg
and groin and “grabbed her
from behind.” After classmates
told a teacher, the school contacted
the girl’s parents.
Her parents called the police,
who confirmed that they
arrested the boy on Nov. 26. According
to a police source, the
111th Precinct charged the boy
with forcible touching, a class
A misdemeanor in New York.
QNS reached out to M.S. 158
but the school declined to comment.
It is unclear whether the
boy still attends the school.
In a statement to investigators,
the girl wrote that her
classmate “disgusting questions
like what my bra size is
and if I want to ‘smash. I feel
like whatever I say doesn’t matter.”
She was allegedly scared
to tell the school or her parents
but eventually told a doctor
after the November incident.
The girl’s parents hired a
lawyer back in October.
“Students deserve safe and
supportive environments,
and schools must report all
incidents and notify parents.
We are looking into this further
and will take any action
necessary,” said DOE spokesperson
Miranda Barbot in a
statement.
According to a chancellorissued
regulation in October
2019, school principals are
A SUPER TIME AT ST. MARY’S
Members of the NYPD, along with costumed superheroes, visited St. Mary’s Hospital for Children
in Bayside on Dec. 13 to spread holiday cheer. See photos on Page 4. Photo by Dean Moses
required to assign one staff
member as the official Sexual
Harassment Prevention (SHP)
liaison. The liaison’s responsibilities
include receiving
reports of student-to-student
sexual harassment and serving
as a resource for students and
staff.
The regulation further
states that any staff member
who witnessed sexual harassment
or has any knowledge of
incidents must verbally report
it to the SHP liaison within one
school day and also submit a
complaint form.
Students, parents and individuals
other than staff can
also report student-to-student
abuse verbally or in writing
and can also submit the official
complaint form.
Reach reporter Jenna Bagcal
by e-mail at jbagcal@qns.com or
by phone at (718) 260-2583.
Vol. 28 No. 51 48 total pages
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