Teen Sexually Assaulted Near Bus Stop on Her Way to School

I was very sad to see this Seattle Times' story.

Those of you with teens in SPS, did you receive any messaging on this for students who use public transportation? I see nothing at the SPS website but I thought perhaps it came individually.

I'm not sure I have ever seen data on how many SPS students take public transportation to school. Anyone? 

King County prosecutors charged a man Wednesday with rape and kidnapping, two days after they say he lured a teenage girl from a bus stop into a wooded area of Seattle’s Northgate neighborhood to sexually assault her. 

The girl, 15, was waiting near Northgate Station for a bus to take her to school around 8:30 a.m. Monday when a man approached her on a bicycle on Fifth Avenue Northeast, just north of Northeast 103rd Street. The man asked her how old she was, and the girl answered him because she didn’t want to be rude, according to police. He then told the girl she was attractive and asked her to join him in the woods nearby, the girl later told police. When she refused, he forced her into the woods and sexually assaulted her until she was able to break free, scream and run away, prosecutors wrote in a Wednesday court filing.

A 41-year-old construction worker who watched the pair disappear into the woods from across the street called 911 shortly before 9 a.m. when he heard screaming and saw the girl emerge “crying and terrified,” prosecutors wrote. The girl was taken to Seattle Children’s hospital with “minor injuries,” according to a blog post by Seattle police.

I'm a bit perplexed by the use of the word "lured." The girl said no to the guy and he dragged her into the woods.

From SPD:

“Today’s incident is unacceptable. Our children should be able to travel safely and enjoy their youth without fear. As a community, we need to fully support our victims now and in the future. We need to prosecute those responsible for stealing our most vulnerable people’s sense of safety, and work together to stop this from happening again,” said Chief Shon Barnes. “To victims of sexual assault, this City is here to support you. 
 
Please know that there are resources available at Seek Then Speak or the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center.”

The suspect also has multiple warrants for his arrest out of Snohomish County and Puyallup Municipal Court. Police booked the suspect into the King County Jail for Investigation of Rape and Kidnapping.

The name of the loser suspect is Joshua Kowalczewski.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Nepotism in Seattle Schools

Update: Following a scandal at Aki Kurose Middle School, apparently the district has pulled the principal, Caine Lowery who leaves Aki for a promotion to Central Office to support/train/guide principals. Hmm. I also note that former Rainier View Elementary principal Anitra Jones, who was removed from that school, still doesn't show up on the staff roster at Rainier Beach High School where it was stated she would be. Where is she? Who knows?  end of update   This is going to be a difficult post to write because it is sad to see what looks like a norm now at JSCEE. The norm I speak of is largely an occurrence with principals as well as JSCEE senior staff. I also know that this is not going to surprise most who works at JSCEE. The norm I'm referring to is the one where some personnel have personal connections within the district that sees them moving between jobs and even getting promoted based on those relationships. In short, nepotism.  This district is risk-adverse wh...
Read more