JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville family plans to press charges after they say their seventh-grade student was verbally and sexually assaulted by a substitute at Charger Academy.
The 13-year-old's grandma Jacqueline Smith-Dunnam said after he told the principal what happened, school leadership didn't call his parents.
She also claims they didn't report it to the Florida Department of Children and Families (DEF) or law enforcement until after the family had already done so.
"I feel that the people at Charter Academy in leadership failed my grandson," Smith-Dunnam said.
A Duval County Public Schools district spokesperson confirmed the district is investigating the incident. They said the school leadership followed the correct procedures in responding to the report.
Smith-Dunnam said on the last Thursday of January, her grandson reported to the principal that the substitute asked him questions of a sexual nature.
She said he was told the principal would take care of it and was sent back to class.
"In comes the same substitute teacher and apparently put some papers and laptop in my grandson's lap,” Smith-Dunnam said, “and in getting those things from his lap, he actually fondled his private parts."
Smith-Dunnam said the boy went to the principal's office again to report the incident and got the same response.
The next day, he told his family what happened and they were shocked. The family said they reported it to DCF and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
"I think the first thing they should have done was call the parents to let them know an incident occurred,” Smith-Dunnam said, “and your son may be going through something emotionally. They didn't do that."
Smith-Dunnam said now the district has offered to send him to another school because he feels intimidated by the adults at Charger Academy.
They feel he's being punished for being a victim.
“You chose to be an educator,” Smith-Dunnam said, “and you should provide high educational values in the kids, and you're there to protect them 24/7 when they're in your care, and that's not being done in Duval."
A spokesperson for DCPS said the substitute has been removed from the school and barred from district campuses until the investigation is complete.
They also said the school leadership followed correct procedures in reporting the incident to DCF, law enforcement, the Office of Professional Standards and the external substitute teacher provider ESS.