Mar 8, 2008 2:09 pm US/Mountain
Councilman Upset About Assault Reporting In DPS
DENVER (AP) ―
Children as young as 5-years-old who were caught kissing at school have been referred to law enforcement from Denver Public Schools after a principal was charged with failing to report an alleged sexual assault.
Referrals to Human Services from the school district jumped from an average of 142 a month to 251 in February, according to spokeswoman Benilda Samuels.
In January, prosecutors served a misdemeanor summons on Skinner Middle School principal Nicole Veltze for allegedly failing to report an unlawful sexual contact. Veltze was investigating the case, but the girl's mom notified police, said Veltze's attorney, Rich Caschette.
Caschette said his client was being prosecuted unfairly to be made an example of because prosecutors believe the district is underreporting such offenses.
After issuing the summons, Chief Deputy District Attorney Lamar Sims spoke with DPS principals, informed them about reporting requirements, and prompted them to over-report, Denver Councilman Doug Linkhart said.
"It's just getting to the point of ridiculousness where we're prosecuting kids for kissing," said Linkhart, who chairs a City Council committee which conducted a hearing Wednesday about the issue.
He said incidents that used to be mediated at school are now being mediated by police.
A message left by The Associated Press after business hours for Denver District Attorney spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough was not immediately returned.
At Wednesday's hearing, Linkhart heard about the case involving the 5-year-olds and another case involving 6-year-olds where one child said to the other, "You have a sexy booty."
Names of the children were not released because of privacy laws.
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