(Name-mce) ListServ Two boys charged with sexual abuse

[Anselmo Villanueva]

Two boys charged with sexual abuse

The Associated Press
Published: Thursday, March 1, 2007

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/03/01/c2.or.slappingstudents.0301.p1.php?section=nation_world

McMINNVILLE, Oregon - A 13-year-old boy and a 12-year-old boy have
been charged with sexual abuse after a teacher saw them slapping the
backsides of female classmates, McMinnville police said.

The Patton Middle School students were released from the Juvenile
Detention Facility in McMinnville on Tuesday, five days after they
were lodged there. They are to be at home under 24-hour surveillance
by their parents and will not attend school. They are due back in
court March 9.

School officials investigating the teacher's complaint concluded that
activity of a ``more serious nature'' had taken place, and notified
police, said school district spokeswoman Tanya Gross.

In court Tuesday, it was revealed that the boys also allegedly poked breasts.

Parents of the two boys said officials overreacted. They said they
were aware of nothing more serious than a dance move in which bottoms
are swatted. The father of the 12-year-old boy said students have been
engaging in the so-called ``party boy dance,'' popularized in the
movie ``Jackass,'' for several months.

``Everyone does it to each other, that's what I'm gathering,'' he
said. ``They're all friends. I don't think anything was done
maliciously or in a sexual way.''

Rhonda Pope said her 13-year-old daughter was one of the alleged
victims. ``She's been slapped on the butt,'' Pope said. ``Several
girls are involved. The boys have been asked not to do it. The girls
keep saying, 'stop, stop, stop,' but the boys don't listen.''