EAST BRUNSWICK — A 13-year-old township boy is being charged with criminal sexual contact after he allegedly groped another student while riding home on a school bus last week.
The boy is accused of wrongfully touching a 13-year-old female student on the late bus that was taking them and other students home from Churchill Junior High School after 3 p.m. last Thursday. The students know each other as classmates, police said, but were not further involved.
Police said the incident began when the male student started making lewd gestures toward the female, then slapped and grabbed her buttocks. The boy also grabbed the victim’s breast, according to the police report.
The female student eventually moved her seat to get away from the suspect. But when she went to get off the bus, the male suspect allegedly blocked her from exiting and brushed his hand across her genital area. The female pushed past the suspect and exited the bus. The female student then reported the incident to her parents, who called the police.
Detective Joe Alves investigated the allegations, part of which involved interviews with other classmates on the bus, police said. Police arrested the suspect and later released him to his parents. The fourth-degree criminal sexual contact charge pending against the juvenile, whose identity is being withheld, is an indictable offense, according to East Brunswick Police Lt. William Krause. He did not know what the penalty would be if the juvenile is convicted.
School officials are reviewing the matter and will look at the possibility of disciplinary action against the student, said Patricia LaDuca, coordinator of community relations and programs. She could not say whether the student was still attending school this week, citing student confidentiality laws.
LaDuca said officials did not believe there was any wrongdoing or policy violation on the part of the school bus driver, and no action was being taken with regard to the bus provider.
LaDuca noted that a major part of the health curriculum is to make students aware of the parameters of appropriate behavior when it comes to contact with others, and the school also provides instruction on how to react and who to speak with if something inappropriate does take place.
The alleged victim did not suffer any physical injury, and Krause said he did not know if the girl had been distraught after the incident.
“She did have the presence of mind to tell her parents about it and get them in here to talk about it,” he noted.