Boston Renaissance Charter School Holds Meeting to Discuss School Bus Sex Assault

Parents still left with questions about the investigation into allegations that a 6-year-old boy sexually assaulted another student back on Nov. 3

The Boston Renaissance Charter School held a meeting on Monday night to update parents on allegations that a 6-year-old boy sexually assaulted another student earlier in the month, but some parents still feel like their questions haven't been answered.

The school has already admitted that it mishandled the case by not notifying state officials immediately. But it will not be penalized by the state.

Allegations surfaced last week that a young boy was sexually assaulted on the school bus nearly three weeks earlier. After a post about the incident went viral on Facebook, the school sent home a letter to parents saying it had followed "applicable state and federal legal guidelines in determining how to communicate with the families involved and the broader school community."

The school did notify the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families and Boston Police about the incident on Nov. 3.

The mother of one alleged victim said her son was molested more than 10 times.

"The kid wanted my son to play with his genitals and he wanted my son to play with his genitals also," said the mother, who did not want to be named. "He mentioned a lot of grabbing of the buttocks."

The mother said the boy, who is now under investigation, also made threats against her son.

Even though the alleged incident took place on a Boston Public School bus, the charter school is handling the investigation independently.

The school would not let media inside Monday’s meeting but some parents told necn that the meeting was contentious and many parents left with more questions than answers.

“I am disappointed. I feel like my child was left behind and I don’t have the answers I want,” said one parent who did not want to be identified.

“We're just left with a lot of unanswered questions,” said parent Shannon Johnson. “That's it. No who, what, where, when, why. We don't even know if the child still attends the school.”

Boston Renaissance Charter School released a statement saying that they held the meeting to "hear the concerns of parents" so that the community can learn how to work together in the future to ensure student.

"We understand why parents were upset to learn about the incident through social media and local news outlets, and appreciate how that caused confusion, fear and frustration.

We want to emphasize, however, that the families of the affected children were contacted immediately, and the decision to notify only those families was made to protect the privacy and well-being of these very young children."

necn Investigates confirmed on Monday night that the bus driver has been placed on paid administrative leave a precautionary measure.

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