School officials refuse to comment on sex incident

13 Investigates

March 16 update: The superintendent of Warren Township Schools met with concerned parents this week. See the story.

Indianapolis - The Warren Township school district is gaining national attention after a 13 Investigates report confirmed young students engaging in sexual activity during class time.

School officials are refusing to comment publicly, prompting concern and outrage among township parents.

Two days after 13 Investigates uncovered hidden facts about two Raymond Park Middle School students engaging in sexual activity during shop class, Warren Township School administrators still aren't talking. The report is raising questions nationwide. Nearly a half million viewers heard about the incident from the Drudge Report online.

Parents in the district are outraged.

"It just upsets me because it sounds like they're trying to make excuses. It doesn't matter to me how long it was, you know, 30 seconds, 30 minutes; it's too long. I want to know where the teacher was and how this was able to happen," said Laura Pliquett, who has a nine-year-old possibly headed to Raymond Park.

Troy Weber has a fifth grader and he's also concerned. "How could it have been kept quiet for that long and still to us kind of being swept under the rug?" he questioned.

Associate School Superintendent Dr. Jeff Swensson confirmed the incident happened almost four months ago in an Industrial Arts lab with the teacher present. He told 13 Investigates another child acted as a "look-out," disputing an insider's claim that as many as ten children may have witnessed the act. More than two parents who called the district say they were told the incident only lasted 30 seconds.

"The 30 seconds, that's not even a consideration - it's the fact that something occurred," said Kevin McDowell, the attorney for the Indiana Department of Education. He says districts often consult him on serious legal matters, but says this is the first he's heard of the Raymond Park incident.

Schools are NOT required to report such incidents to the state. McDowell won't criticize Warren Township, but doesn't agree with the district's approach.

"I can't imagine any administrator worth her salt or his salt that wouldn't address a situation like this because it is a serious matter. I really can't answer for them. I'm sure they have their reasons why. You know, is that the way I would address it? Well, my first blush reaction is, you know, I would have handled it differently," he said.

Jackie Stevens says the issue was particularly bothersome because she has a sixth grade student that attends another Warren Township School. She wonders if there are any other secrets.

"I just want to be very confident that they're not witnessing and they're being protected - they're not witnessing things that are harmful to them emotionally, physically - whatever."

McDowell agrees parents have legitimate issues about classroom supervision - but has a different take concerning students who may have witnessed the activity:

"This doesn't pose any danger to the other students even if they did see it," he said.

When asked for claification, McDowell repeated his stance.

"All right, so they may have witnessed this. While this is an activity you certainly don't see in a school and it's something that would be certainly unusual, I don't feel - I don't know where it posed any immediate danger to those children who saw it," McDowell said.

Many of the parents we spoke with are considering whether to send their children to Raymond Park next year or to even remain in the district.

Warren Township School Board member Marlene Tisdale is the only school board member who returned our calls. She repeated the district's statement that two students were involved in inappropriate conduct and that the school corporation investigated and considers the matter closed.

13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |School officials refuse to comment on sex incident

School officials refuse to comment on sex incident