
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 2, 1991                   TAG: 9104020409
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FAIRFAX                                LENGTH: Medium

SCHOOL PROBES LATE REPORTS OF SEX ASSAULTS

An intermediate school principal in Fairfax County did not tell police of two reported sexual assaults on students at school, prompting an internal school system investigation, officials said.

Police said the first assault occurred between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Oct. 4 when a 14-year-old boy accosted a 13-year-old girl in the school gymnasium while two other boys served as lookouts near the door. Police said they first heard about it more than three weeks later, on Oct. 29, when the parents called.

After an investigation, police charged a 14-year-old student from the Falls Church area with attempted rape, and he has since been convicted in Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. School officials said the youth has been receiving home instruction pending an expulsion hearing expected to be held later this month.

The second incident occurred about 1:30 p.m. March 6 when three 14-year-old boys grabbed and fondled two 13-year-old girls in a hallway near the gymnasium, police said. Parents reported the incidents to police two days later and investigators eventually charged three boys with two counts of aggravated sexual battery and two counts of abduction each.

Those cases are awaiting disposition in juvenile court. School officials said the boys were suspended and then allowed back in school on a probationary status.

"We received the reports late on both incidents," said police spokesman Boyd Thompson. "The parents weren't made aware of it . . . The kids went home and began talking about it, and that's how the parents found out."

School officials said they are investigating the handling of the situation and transferred Principal William Johnson, effective Monday. Johnson was swapped in a lateral move with Frost Intermediate Principal Gary Miller; Johnson took over as principal at Frost, while Miller replaced Johnson at Glasgow.

Assistant Superintendent Dolores Bohen said the move was "not punitive," but merely a way to remove Johnson from the situation that was being investigated. Principals and teachers are expected to report all criminal activity occurring in school if they become aware of it, Bohen said, but the evidence of misconduct so far in this case is not conclusive.

"If we had conclusive evidence that there was some serious mishandling of the situation, we would not be moving him to another school at this time," she said. "Allegations, to be fair to Bill, are just that at this point: allegations."

Johnson could not be reached for comment early today.

by CNB