NEW ROCHELLE, NY — New Rochelle Youth Detectives are have (completed an investigation into) allegations of an attempted rape by a 6th grader, age 12, at Albert Leonard Middle School on Wednesday.
New Rochelle Police Officers responded to the school on June 2 at 2:08 p.m. based on a report of “threats” reported by the Assistant Principal.
The Assistant Principal is Matthew Lucero.
Upon arriving on scene, New Rochelle Police officers made a preliminary investigation before turning the matter over to Detectives in the Youth Bureau. Due to the age of the student under investigation, no further details were made available by the police.
UPDATE 3:08 PM: New Rochelle Police Department has issued a statement “subsequent investigation by Youth Detectives determined that the conduct was verbal, and does not rise to the level of a crime. The matter is being handled by the New Rochelle School District.”
The City School District of New Rochelle issued a statement:
A verbal threat of a sexual nature was made from one student to another on June 2, 2021 at Albert Leonard Middle School. There was no physical contact between the students during this incident, which took place in a setting supervised by District personnel. Albert Leonard Middle School leadership was immediately alerted, and quickly took action under the District’s Code of Conduct, which included notifying police. Law enforcement is now reviewing the matter.
The City School District of New Rochelle and Albert Leonard Middle School assures parents and guardians that students are safe in school, and the school’s Code of Conduct sets out principles, expectations and rules governing behavior. Nothing is more important than the safety and health of our students and staff.
We will continue to keep the community apprised to the extent that is legally permissible and appropriate.
An email was sent to the parents and guardians of students at Albert Leonard Middle School.
Dear ALMS Community Members,
We are writing to inform you of an unacceptable incident on June 2, 2021 at Albert Leonard Middle School.
A verbal threat of a sexual nature was made from one student to another. There was no physical contact between the students during this incident, which took place in a setting supervised by District personnel.
Albert Leonard Middle School leadership was immediately alerted, and quickly took action under the District’s Code of Conduct, which included notifying police. Law enforcement is now reviewing the matter, and appropriate administrative action was taken by Albert Leonard Middle School officials to address the matter with the students involved.
The City School District of New Rochelle and Albert Leonard Middle School assures parents and guardians that students are safe in school. Nothing is more important than the safety and health of our students and staff.
Thank you for your trust and understanding. We will continue to keep you apprised to the extent that is legally permissible and appropriate.
Sincerely,
John Barnes, Matt Lucero, Chris Salinas
The ALMS Administrative Team
Talk of the Sound has spoken with multiple sources on background who say that a 6th grade girl “fought off” an attempted rape by a 6th grade boy. The boy is alleged to have threatened that he would have two other boys hold her down, but no other students are believed to be involved.
The incident reportedly occurred during 5th period between 11:54 a.m. and 12:42 p.m. at a “learning HUB” during a “mask break”.
A HUB is a place for students to go if they have trouble connecting to virtual classes from home. Students are periodically allowed to remove their masks during the school day.
No teacher or substitute was present during the incident, sources say.
The subject of the police investigation has not returned to school.
Police were reportedly called to the school in the recent past due to “threats” made by the same boy.
An NRPD spokesperson confirmed that at 11:56 am on May 19th New Rochelle Police Officers interviewed the Principal and Assistant Principal regarding past threats, and Youth Detectives are conducting a follow-up investigation.
EDITOR’S NOTE: CSDNR says the incident “took place in a setting supervised by District personnel” not “District personnel were supervising the setting at the time of the incident” a major difference which indicates the students were unsupervised at the time of the incident. Also, 5th period ends at 12:42 p.m. but NRPD says they were not called until 2:08 p.m. Likewise NRPD says when they were called to ALMS on May 19 it was regarding “past threats”. The CSDNR statement says “Albert Leonard Middle School leadership was immediately alerted, and quickly took action under the District’s Code of Conduct, which included notifying police.” but its the School Safety Plan which governs not the Code of Conduct and the School Safety Plan says “Call 911” not “Notify Police.”
UPDATE 7:25 PM: an online petition has been created and at this moment has 123 signatures and 70 comments.
The incident comes in the wake of a series of sexual assaults at New Rochelle High School.
On January 8th, 2020, New Rochelle Police Officers responded to New Rochelle High School on a report of an allegation of a past Sexual Assault of a girl by a boy on school grounds. An ambulance was called to the Main Office to transport the student to an area hospital. The boy was arrested and ultimately pleaded guilty in Youth Court, according to a recently filed civil lawsuit.
In 2019, then-New Rochelle High School Social Studies teacher John Fraioli, 34, of White Plains was arrested and charged with engaging in sex acts with a 15-year-old student at New Rochelle High School during school hours in the school during the late spring of 2019. He was subsequently charged with 10 additional counts after prosecutors said Fraioli had “sexual relations” with the teenage victim in his White Plains home on five occasions during the period of June through October 2019.
Also in 2019, the City School District of New Rochelle issued a statement that on February 8, 2019 a sexual abuse complaint was made to the New Rochelle Police Department by a ALMS student, against a security guard.
Also in 2019, in a letter sent to parents, Principal John Barnes notified the school community of an allegation from an Albert Leonard Middle School parent that a former staff member had inappropriate physical contact with their child at the school.
In 2012, Marisa Anton, then age 34, the female librarian at New Rochelle High School was arrested in a sting operation by New Rochelle Police. The so-called “Naughty Librarian” pleaded guilty to one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a class A misdemeanor. As part of a plea deal she agreed to serve 3 years probation with sex offender conditions and surrender her teaching license.
In 2009, a former Albert Leonard Middle School security guard, Donna Henry (pictured above), seized a cell phone from a student which contained sexual images of a female student take by a male student.
Henry did not turn the cell phone over to her supervisor but instead kept the phone. She took it home where she shared copies of the images with other district employees including one district employee at Isaac E. Young Middle School and another at City Hall — both family members. From there the image was widely shared. The girl in the images suffered a mental breakdown and moved out of state.
Donna Henry was never charged. She was reassigned as a nightshift Cleaner at New Rochelle High School and remains to this day as an employee of the District with access to children.
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