Sources allege attempted assault at Rockville school; Parents Question Brief Police Investigation – NBC4 Washington

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Parents of high school students in Rockville, Md., On Wednesday asked serious questions about the school’s handling of what sources allege was an attempted assault in its football locker room.

Some have privately expressed fears that the investigation was conducted and concluded too quickly.

Montgomery County Police were called to Wootton High School just after 4 p.m. Tuesday in what was described as an alleged assault of a sexual nature. In the end, authorities said there had been no sexual assault and no charges were laid.

Sources told News4 that the incident, which occurred in the football locker room after practice, involved an attempted assault with a broomstick.

“A staff member reported that an incident had occurred in the locker room and Montgomery County Police (MCPD) were immediately called. Police investigated the allegations before the team left school, including whether a sexual assault had taken place. Police found no evidence of sexual assault, ”Principal Kimberly Bolden said in a letter to the school community that evening.

She said the case would continue to be investigated as part of the school’s disciplinary proceedings.

“There is no way a sexual assault investigation started and ended overnight,” said Rene Sandler, a Montgomery County lawyer who has handled cases involving minors. “I don’t think anyone would accept that it opens and closes in a matter of hours in a day. Absolutely unacceptable.

In a letter sent to footballing families on Tuesday, Bolden urged parents: “If [your children] saved the event, please ask them to delete it and not share it.

His request was canceled the next day.

“Hearing a directive from a principal for students and parents to destroy evidence in a case, whether disciplinary or criminal in nature, is shocking and grossly inappropriate and could most likely be illegal,” Sandler said. .

Parents from the football program were invited to the school on Wednesday evening for a question-and-answer session. Football training has been canceled.

The alleged incident bears striking similarities to a 2019 sexual assault in the football locker room of another Montgomery County school. Criminal charges have been brought against four players from Damascus high school in this case.

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