The family of a 7-year-old student at a Houston ISD elementary school says their child was sexually assaulted by a fellow student in the school’s bathroom.
The student is a second grader at Barbara Bush Elementary School. In a press conference Tuesday, the child’s mother, who was not identified in order to protect the child’s identity, says her daughter is suffering.
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“My once vibrant, straight-A student full of life has undergone the most terrifying thing you can think of,” the mother said. “As a parent, I never imagined having to worry about my child not being protected at school.”
The family says they reported the assaults two weeks ago and the mother says the school and the district have failed to take appropriate action. She also says the student accused of assaulting her daughter has been allowed to stay in the same classroom.
In addition, the mother says that student continues to harass and taunt her daughter during recess and is also crawling under tables and making unwanted physical contact during instructional time.
“The principal has done his due diligence as far as reaching out to the district, but at this point in time, there is nothing that he can do on his end because of the severity,” the mother explained.
The family’s attorney, Kevin Murray, voiced the same concerns over the way the situation was handled.
“Ultimately, my client did everything that she was supposed to do when she understood that this happened to her daughter,” he said. “She went to the principal, nothing happened. She went to the district police department, made a report, nothing happened. She went to CPS to make a report. Nothing has happened.”
According to the attorney, when the girl’s mother asked for updates about what steps were being taken to address the alleged sexual assaults, the school stated that their “hands are tied” due to the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) current management of the Houston Independent School District (HISD).
“As a mother, I’ve always considered my children’s school to be a vital part of my village—a place of support, safety, and shared responsibility,” said the victim’s mother. “I never imagined that, during such a critical time, that very support would be absent when we needed it most.”
Shortly after the press conference, HISD reached out to KPRC 2 to address the situation, promising to send a statement to provide more context on the district’s direction.
We will update the story with that statement as soon as we get it.
