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Six year old led off school groundsBy Barry Merrill 3 October 2007 — A Princeton kindergarten student was led off campus by a 15-year old student last Thursday morning, and Princeton Police is investigating allegations the younger student may have been inappropriately touched. Princeton Police Chief Eddie Lewis was guarded about comments Monday morning on many of the facts of the case, due to the nature of the allegations and pending further investigation. He was very complimentary of the Princeton School administration’s handling of the case. Both students are male, and the younger student is a special needs student. According to Chief Lewis, the two students had breakfast in the school cafeteria together, but then apparently left the school walking off the campus, heading north on Pine Street. They continued walking across US 70 and north on Rains Mill Road. When Princeton School officials found the younger boy missing, they began a search of the school. The younger boy is very sociable and school officials thought he might have gotten out of place. At 8:25 a.m., the two boys were spotted by a member of the custodial staff, walking along Rains Mill Road just beyond the Little River bridge. Chief Lewis said the two boys were gone no longer than 45 minutes based upon evidence of when they were in the lunchroom and when they were found. The two students were brought back to campus and were questioned by school officials. Chief Lewis said their pant legs, socks and shoes were wet from walking through the morning dew in the grass. The younger student’s mother was called at 9:07 a.m. according to her cell phone records. She arrived at the school just after 10 a.m. and left around 11:15 with her son. Late that afternoon a family member said the student said he had been touched in several places, which caused them to call the family doctor, who told them to take the child to Wake Med for an appropriate examination. Around 10:30 Thursday night, Princeton Police was contacted, and Chief Lewis went to Wake Med that night to go over the results of the examination. Based on the preliminary examination, the younger student did not suffer any apparent injuries. An SBI examination kit was used and results and any evidence obtained have not been released. Chief Lewis contacted Teddy Bear Advocacy Center of Greenville which is a certified agency used in similar type investigations with young children. They will interview the younger student Wednesday afternoon and Chief Lewis will meet with the District Attorney to discuss the evidence after that interview. The older student has been disciplined under the school system’s policy. They cannot comment on discipline of a particular student, but Chief Lewis says they have dealt with him reasonably at this point. School officials were made aware of the additional possible charges Thursday night. Chief Lewis said he physically walked the one and a half mile route from the place the two boys were found back to the school, and it took him 29 minutes. While he believes the 15 year old could have gone faster, he found it unlikely the six year old walked it that fast. It appears there was limited time and place that something else more serious might have happened. Chief Lewis reacted to a television news report over the weekend that suggested school officials were not appropriately concerned about the small child. “I feel the school did everything possible. That school is just as safe as a school anywhere. If I were a parent with a student, I wouldn’t have a second thought about taking my student there.” He also stressed that the school administration has been fully cooperative and given him more than he asked for.
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