Help! Parents of 5 year old girl want to take legal action!

[sadiecat3]

My 5 year old son and 2 other 5 yr. old boys at school pulled a little girls' (5 yrs.old) pants down and touched her privates during recess at school. Now her parents are threatening to take legal action against us as parents. Can my son be charged as a criminal??--The teacher was supposed to be watching the children at that time, but was distracted by another child who'd needed her attention during the incident.--We feel that the little girls' parents are blowing this way out of proportion and the school tells us not to worry, but exactly what are the legalities involved here? Keep in mind that this has never happened before with our son or any of the other little boys.
Please help! (We live in California)

 

[nycgrandpa]

son should keep his hands to himself

How would you feel if the situation was reversed, and your sons pants were pulled down, and he was touched inappropriately? I dont think he can be charged criminally, because of his age, but you really should teach your son to keep his hands to himself. If he was a little older, he may face charges. Nip this kind of behavior in the bud, before your son DOES get into serious trouble.

 

[stealth2]

We feel that the little girls' parents are blowing this way out of proportion

Well gee - where did three 5yo boys get the idea to pull down a girl's pants and fondle her? I would certainly be pretty steamed if it was my little girl, and my first calls would be to the cops and CPS. Expect that the authorities will be very interested in finding out the answer to that question.

 

[HomeGuru]

My 5 year old son and 2 other 5 yr. old boys at school pulled a little girls' (5 yrs.old) pants down and touched her privates during recess at school. Now her parents are threatening to take legal action against us as parents. Can my son be charged as a criminal??--The teacher was supposed to be watching the children at that time, but was distracted by another child who'd needed her attention during the incident.--We feel that the little girls' parents are blowing this way out of proportion and the school tells us not to worry, but exactly what are the legalities involved here? Keep in mind that this has never happened before with our son or any of the other little boys.
Please help! (We live in California)

**A: yes, blame the teacher who should be watching YOUR kid (and not any other kid) every second of the day.

 

[BL]

Inappropriate sexual conduct will eventually lead your child to suspensions , and when old enough Charges being filed .

While you may not think it's a big deal , it is , and could become worse .

How do you know it's a one time occurrence .

 

[bonkers101]

wow - this kid is FIVE years old! I don't know of any kids that aren't curious about private parts, I mean I think every kid I knew at that age tried the "show mine show yours" game at some point! It isn't sexual, it is curiosity MOST of the time! I think calling CPS is going a little overboard! At five years old parents should be approaching the child with a talk of boundaries without a doubt, and these children DID cross a line with this behaviour. Did the little girl engage in the "play" willingly or was she forced into her pants being pulled down?

If forceful, then yes, there are some REAL problems, but if this was a game they all were playing, they all need to have a serious talk about boundaries and not crossing them and leave it at that! Don't scare the kid senseless and make him horrified that he was curious about genitals!

We are a society that shows more cleavage on commercials, more skin in cartoons and "family" sitcoms, and we freak out when our children start playing sexually or showing any natural curiosity. This is a five year old for goodness sakes!

Mom - they have some great kids books for curious boys - I looked into it when I found my 7 yr old had ripped out a victoria secrets bra ad out of one of my magazines and stuffed it under his pillow! I talked to a therapist about it even - she laughed at me for thinking it was !GASP! sexual and asked if I breastfed - I said yes, for 18 months and she said he simply felt security there. Something i had never even thought of - but made sense as we had just moved and I had a new baby I was breastfeeding and 7 yr old was sleeping alone in his own bed every night in a new room. Lots of changes for a young kid in a very short time...

Anyhoo...good luck, I hope they dont' take this up with attorneys because they will probably try to pull your entire family through the mud and prove exactly what one of the other posters was insinuating....something sick and nasty going on in the home! Maybe you should just turn off the tv, that way your kids never see skin or sexuality.

 

[bonkers101]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/02/11/sex.harrass.ap/index.html

the first grader that was suspended for sexual harassment got an official apology

 

[stealth2]

Yeah - but he didn't pull anyone's pants down.

 

[HomeGuru]

Yeah - but he didn't pull anyone's pants down.

**A: and touched the girl's privates**************.

 

[Just Blue]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/02/11/sex.harrass.ap/index.html

the first grader that was suspended for sexual harassment got an official apology

This was insane...made even more insane by the mother playing the race card....They moved the kid to another school...I don't know what the mother thinks she won. But the school was in the wrong....poor kid....

 

[bonkers101]

This was insane...made even more insane by the mother playing the race card....They moved the kid to another school...I don't know what the mother thinks she won. But the school was in the wrong....poor kid....

I totally agree - and her plastering her photo all over the news will make this kids life hell - how many of the parents at the new school now see mom dropping off this poor kid, how many parents are telling their kids don't talk to that new kid....this will follow him for a long time and he will be labeled and pretty much have a scarlet letter attached to his forhead. Sad.

 

[Just Blue]

I totally agree - and her plastering her photo all over the news will make this kids life hell - how many of the parents at the new school now see mom dropping off this poor kid, how many parents are telling their kids don't talk to that new kid....this will follow him for a long time and he will be labeled and pretty much have a scarlet letter attached to his forhead. Sad.

Yup! She insisted that he be put in a new school...Brockton has AWFUL schools and the one he was in is one of the better ones...NOT the thing I would do...plus I think it send a bad message to the kid that he DID do something wrong and is getting punished by not going to schools with his friends anymore...This whole this was blown WAY out of proportion by everyone....

 

[stealth2]

And what does this have to do with OP's situation? (Hint: Zip. Zero. Nada.)

 

[sadiecat3]

Thank you for input regarding my post

How would you feel if the situation was reversed, and your sons pants were pulled down, and he was touched inappropriately? I dont think he can be charged criminally, because of his age, but you really should teach your son to keep his hands to himself. If he was a little older, he may face charges. Nip this kind of behavior in the bud, before your son DOES get into serious trouble.

I feel horrible about this entire situation and totally understand where these parents are coming from, however I feel that there was no criminal intent here as the children were supposedly playing a game called 'butterfly'--
I was appalled upon learning about my son's behavior and am fully cooperating with the school to resolve this matter and take every measure necessary to insure that this NEVER happens again!!--I have spoken with my son and told him to keep his hands to himself, and do wholeheartedly agree
with you that this is very serious. I have read furthur postings made by others
regarding my post and all but one person has stoned me here!--What's happened to the innocence of a 5 year old in our society?--Weren't we as 5 year old's curious ourselves?

 

[Neal1421]

I feel horrible about this entire situation and totally understand where these parents are coming from, however I feel that there was no criminal intent here as the children were supposedly playing a game called 'butterfly'--
I was appalled upon learning about my son's behavior and am fully cooperating with the school to resolve this matter and take every measure necessary to insure that this NEVER happens again!!--I have spoken with my son and told him to keep his hands to himself, and do wholeheartedly agree
with you that this is very serious. I have read furthur postings made by others
regarding my post and all but one person has stoned me here!--What's happened to the innocence of a 5 year old in our society?--Weren't we as 5 year old's curious ourselves?

It disappeared when you son touched a little girl's genitals.