THE parents of a 13-year-old student yesterday filed a complaint before the Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor accusing a private school of child abuse.
The couple’s lawyer, Inocencio de la Cerna, Jr. lodged the criminal complaint against the school officials for alleged violating Republic Act 7610, or the Anti-Child Abuse Law.
The parents lamented that the school’s decision in not admitting their son in this school year without due process degraded their son.
Sun.Star Cebu is withholding the school’s name and its officials until the respondents issue their official statement on the case.
The parents assisted their minor child in supporting the filing of the complaint yesterday morning.
In their complaint-affidavit, the child’s parents said that the school’s Board of Discipline imposed a sanction dated Oct. 17, 2014.
It refused the child from enrolling for school year 2015-2016 for allegedly displaying “unpleasant and inappropriate behavior towards his classmates.”
During a dialogue among the school officials, the child and his parents, the child was accused of touching the body of his female classmates.
The child denied the allegations.
“I was in a complete stage of disbelief, sir, hearing those words being uttered and directed towards my minor child. I know for a fact that I raised my child properly and instilled in him discipline and respect among others,” the father stated in his affidavit.
No copy
When we asked for a copy of the complaints and the evidence for all the accusations hurled against the child, the school officials reportedly refused to furnish one to protect the identity of the alleged victims.
After the dialogue, the parents said they noticed changes in their son’s behavior, such as staring blankly and repeatedly saying that the allegations were not true.
About a week after the dialogue, the school did not allow the child to enter their classroom and instead placed him inside a separate room for the whole day.
The school also enforced a home study program for the child to continue his Grade 7.
The parents said the confinement caused their child embarrassment since the room was visible to the public.
The parents said they only knew about the sanction imposed on their son when they fetched their son after his class.
The child immediately embraced his mother and burst into tears after reporting what happened to him.
Turned down
Following that day, the parents requested for a copy of the decision, but the request was allegedly turned down because the school’s lawyer refused to release it.
The parents requested from the School Division Superintendent for reinvestigation of the complaint hurled against their son, which showed that the child was denied due process.
They said the bad experience has taken its toll on their child.
A psychological evaluation showed the incident caused him “great emotional impact.”