Article from Stuff.co.nz
I live across the road from this man, and this school.
Mum fears for safety of pupils
By JO McKENZIE-McLEAN - The Press | Tuesday, 6 March 2007
An angry eight-year-old Christchurch girl walked out an open school gate and was allegedly indecently assaulted in an incident that has raised questions about pupil safety.
The girl's mother is furious her daughter was allowed to leave her class and the school grounds.
She said she had been unable to function normally since her daughter was allegedly assaulted last month. ``She seems OK at the moment, but I'm a bloody mess.''
The Press cannot name the girl because as a victim of an alleged sex crime she and her family have automatic name suppression.
The girl, who has since left the Christchurch school, was allowed to leave her class about 10am on Thursday, February 22, after becoming "frustrated'', her mother said.
She wandered across the school field and walked out an open back gate without anybody knowing.
A man living next to the school allegedly lured the girl over, took her into his house and allegedly indecently assaulted her, her mother said.
"When I picked her up from school I saw the teacher and she had told me (my daughter) had run out of class again. I had no idea she was doing this. I said this has got to be dealt with,'' the mother said.
"I said to her about running out of class and she's like, 'That's not all that happened to me - a man dragged me into his house'. She got really upset and I was like, 'Oh, my God, this is not real'.
"I went to talk to the principal and he wasn't there. I was crying at this stage. It was horrible.''
Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Wormald said a man was arrested the next day and charged with indecent assault of a girl under 12.
The Christchurch District Court granted the alleged offender, victim and school name suppression when the man appeared in court on February 24, and remanded him on bail until Monday.
The school's principal said the school was "devastated'' over the incident.
"We have never had to deal with this before and we never want to deal with it again,'' he said.
"We are absolutely gutted he was living next door. We had no idea he was living there.''
The pupils were not at risk from the man as he was no longer at the address, the principal said.
The gate had since been locked during school hours.
The girl's mother said children should not be allowed to leave classrooms unattended.
"I got a letter after this happened (from the board of trustees) saying they can't lock up the school like a fortress, that it's impossible to lock all the gates,'' she said.
''I had only asked if they would lock the back gate. It's right near a road and that man's house.
"The back field is quite big and on the side there's a playground where wee girls are playing all the time. It's common-sense stuff.''
The board chairman said in a letter addressed to the girl's mother it was "simply impractical'' to secure all exit and entry points.
"Even if we did lock all gates, the children can easily get over fences or find alternative ways out,'' he said.
Legally, the school could only put in place procedures to prevent "foreseeable harm''.
"In (the girl's) case, her danger was simply not foreseeable or preventable. Despite this, our board, staff and principal are all devastated that we were unable to prevent the assault,'' he said.
The school had reviewed its protocols on children leaving the classroom without permission, and teachers had been told of the alleged assault, the chairman said.
The board was satisfied with the teacher's response when the girl left the class without permission.
When she left the class, her teacher had tried to find her and, unable to, alerted the school office, he said.