Police investigating report of sexual abuse at Lee’s Summit West

Police are investigating a report of sexual abuse inside Lee’s Summit West High School after a male student accused another male student of inappropriately touching him inside a school bathroom.

The incident happened on the morning of Aug. 16 and was reported more than a month later on Sept. 22, according to an incident report by the Lee’s Summit Police Department.

Lee’s Summit Police Sgt. Chris Depue said Oct. 6 that no arrests have been made and that the investigation into the allegations remains ongoing.

Depue said the Lee’s Summit School District was “fully cooperating” in the investigation.

Police received a call Sept. 22 to investigate a reported sexual assault involving a juvenile.

An officer went to a local hospital and spoke with a relative of the victim.

The relative told police that the teenage victim was a student at Lee’s Summit West High School, where he attended specialized classes. The victim was described as “low-functioning, but verbal.”

The relative said she noticed something was wrong when the victim showed signs of intense stress on Aug. 18.

She also said the victim was suffering from hallucinations and showing fits of rage. The student later indicated to family members that he wanted to hurt another student and hurt himself.

For a period of two weeks, the report said the victim was taken out of his “normal class” and placed in the “Focus” room “due to this crisis.”

The relative said on Sept. 15, the victim stayed home from school because he was sick.

At home, she noticed the victim was “pacing the hallway” and texting on a cellphone. She said she took the phone and found multiple text messages talking about Monster energy drink and texts taunting and teasing the victim.

The report said the victim told the relative that the student would “lure him into a bathroom to get the Monster drink.”

The victim said he met the other student in the bathroom to pay the student back for the energy drinks. The relative told police the victim described an instance when the student threatened to hurt the victim and lock him in the bathroom.

By Sept. 16 and Sept. 17, the victim talked more at home about what happened.

The victim told the relative that the student tried to kiss him and rub his shoulders, according to the police report. He also said the student “touched his butt and tried to pull down his pants.”

That’s when the relative told police she contacted a school administrator.

The relative said the school formed a plan to keep the victim away from the other student until an investigation could be conducted by the staff.

Five days later, the relative said the victim attempted to harm himself inside the high school. The victim was stopped from hurting himself and taken to a teacher.

From there, the relative said she took victim to a hospital to receive a sexual-assault nurse’s examination.

In a statement to police, the relative said the teenager had not been acting like his usual self.

“(The victim) normally does have bad days, however, this year has been terrible,” the relative said.

Police said a nurse at the hospital conducted an interview with the victim as part of the examination.

During the interview, the victim told the nurse that another student pulled him into a bathroom by grabbing his shoulders and demanded an energy drink.

When the victim said he didn’t have a drink, the student allegedly “pulled out his private parts” and demanded the drink again. The victim told the nurse he blacked out during the incident and wasn’t able to remember what happened next.

The district declined to discuss the case, citing student privacy in a statement to the Lee’s Summit Journal.

The spokeswoman also pointed to board policies related to student discipline.

According to the district’s policy, students accused of sexual harassment may face a principal/student conference, detention, in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension, or expulsion for the first offense.

Subsequent offenses of sexual harassment could lead to in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension, or expulsion.

This story was originally published October 6, 2017 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Police investigating report of sexual abuse at Lee’s Summit West."