A California preschool is reportedly closing its doors amidst allegations of sexual activity among its young students.
According to KABC-TV, at least two young boys say they received oral sex from a five-year-old girl on the premises of the First Lutheran Church of Carson School, where the three children are students.
Richard McCarthy, the father of one of the boys, told the news channel that his four-year-old son had “often received oral sex at school” from the young girl. Another child has also allegedly received oral sex from the five-year-old.
Since the alleged sexual encounters, McCarthy says his son — unable to fully understand the feelings that the sexual activity provoked — has become troubled.
For the full story, go to KABC-TV here.
The school, which is located in Carson, Calif., has reportedly been cited for “at least one sexual incident that involved young students” by the California Department of Social Services. It is said to have also been charged with an “overall lack of supervision and an improper teacher-child ratio.”
The school says it will close its doors in about a week.
McCarthy, together with a number of parents, is planning on filing a lawsuit against the school. Greg Owen, the attorney involved in the case, says he is representing four alleged victims.
“Their lives will be ruined in many ways,” said Owen of the children involved, according to ABC News. “And we know there are many more [victims].”
Though the allegations of sexual activity has rocked the school community, the preschool’s administration has insisted that other factors are to blame for the school’s closure.
Sexual misconduct and abuse in schools are unfortunately not unheard of. Just last year, an elementary school in Los Angeles was rocked by a shocking sex scandal that involved two teachers and several young students. According to a February 2012 report by the Associated Press, Mark Berndt and Martin Springer, two teachers at Miramonte Elementary School, were arrested over allegations of lewd conduct.
Berndt has been accused of binding and gagging students, as well as feeding them semen-laced cookies and placing live cockroaches on their faces; Springer has been accused of “fondling” young children.
Just last month, another Los Angeles teacher was arrested over accusations of sexual abuse. Robert Pimentel, a veteran teacher who reportedly worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District for almost 40 years, has been accused of sexually abusing “at least 20 children” and one adult, Raw Story reports.
“We are stunned here,” LAPD Detective Gus Villanueva told the Daily Beast after Pimentel’s arrest. “We are dumbfounded. It just doesn’t stop.”
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