Stamford parents claim son, 5, was sexually assaulted in school bathroom

The parents of a Stamford 5-year-old have filed a lawsuit, claiming Roxbury Elementary School officials did not take steps to prevent their son from an alleged sexual assault last year in the school bathroom. The parents of a Stamford 5-year-old have filed a lawsuit, claiming Roxbury Elementary School officials did not take steps to prevent their son from an alleged sexual assault last year in the school bathroom. Photo: File Photo Photo: File Photo Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Stamford parents claim son, 5, was sexually assaulted in school bathroom 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

BRIDGEPORT — Stamford school officials failed to take action when a 5-year-old child was threatened by a classmate, which resulted in the boy later being sexually assaulted by the same classmate, a lawsuit says.

The suit, which alleges the classmate stabbed the boy with a pencil and later bit his penis, was filed April 23 in state Superior Court in Bridgeport on behalf of the parents of the 5-year-old against the Stamford Board of Education and the city of Stamford. It states that the principal and staff at Roxbury Elementary School breached their obligation to keep the young boy safe and violated state law by failing to report the first incident to the state Department of Children and Families.

Norwalk lawyer Michael Skiber, who represents the parents of the 5-year-old boy, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

In mid-May 2018, the mother of the 5-year-old boy told her son’s teacher that a classmate of her son had stabbed him with a pencil on May 10, the lawsuit says. The mother also reported that the other student crawled under a bathroom stall that her son had locked and blocked the 5-year-old from leaving the stall, begging him to “die here with me.”

The lawsuit states that school officials, despite being informed of the incident, took no action to keep the two students separate, instead allowing them to remain in the same classroom and interact with each other.

On May 21, 2018, a substitute teacher, who had not been informed about the previous incident between the two students, was in charge, according to the suit. The substitute excused the 5-year-old to go to the bathroom. The aggressor student left the classroom — the lawsuit does not state whether he was excused or not — and went to the same bathroom.

The aggressor student went into the stall the boy was in and bit his penis, causing him serious injury, the lawsuit states.

As a result of the assault, the 5-year-old boy suffered serious and permanent physical and psychological injuries that will require treatment, the lawsuit states.

The family is seeking damages totaling more than $15,000.

On its website, DCF instructs educators and other people who work with children on a day-to-day basis that they are required by law to report suspected abuse and neglect inflicted on any child under the age of 18.

The suit specifically calls out school staff for failing to alert DCF to the first incident, alleging that they failed to prevent the second incident from occurring.

In 2014, two administrators at Stamford High School were arrested for failing to report an incident to DCF.

The school district declined to comment on the case as it is ongoing litigation. Sharon Beadle, public affairs officer for Stamford Public Schools, said that DCF and the Stamford Police were notified although she did not know whether that happened after the first or second incident.

Staff reporter Sophie Vaughan contributed to this story.