Harlem Third Grader Allegedly Forced to Perform Oral Sex by Classmates

According to the New York Daily News, a third-grade boy was allegedly forced to perform oral sex on three other students after being dragged kicking and screaming into a bathroom in a Harlem elementary school.

The supposed ringleader, who is in fifth grade, had also reportedly groped a girl under her skirt during the 2009-2010 school year according to a lawsuit filed last week by the girl’s mother. The two other boys are in third grade.

The fifth grader allegedly was not punished for the previous groping incident and was allowed to go home before police arrived in this case.

The eight-year old victim was finishing his lunch at Public School 194 and was waiting for class when the three boys allegedly grabbed him in the hallway and dragged him into a bathroom stall, where each of the suspects is accused of assaulting him, according to court papers. 

After the incident, the victim ran to a teacher and told her what happened, according to a report filed to the Education Department by officials at the school. She told guidance counselor Alicia Blackwood and principal Josephine Bazan, who then called the victim’s mother. It was the mother, not the school, who informed the police.

The mother is filing a $6 million lawsuit Friday against the city Education Department for “emotional and psychological anguish,” and for failing to warn parents and authorities that the fifth grader had a history as a “sexual deviant.”

The lawsuit asserts that the principal during the 2009-2010 school year, Charyn Koppelson, never punished the groper or discouraged him. The girl’s mother said Koppelson claimed, “He’s just a kid.” The mother added, “(The incidents) were never placed in the system at all.” Koppelson was reassigned in January 2012 and replaced by Bazan.

After the alleged attack, the two third-graders got five-day suspensions, and the ringleader received a 10-day suspension, the lawsuit says. Police arrested all three suspects and charged them with sexual misconduct. The victim has been given a safety transfer to another school.