(AP) DANVILLE, Pa. Authorities are dropping a disorderly conduct charge against a 12-year-old special education student who they said deliberately wet her pants at school.
“It was a mistake to bring police into a case of school discipline,” Superintendent Steve Keifer said Thursday.
“I think the situation was one where the parents and school officials were frustrated, and that’s why it was done,” Keifer said. “At the same time, it was probably not a good idea.”
The girl’s mother told the Press Enterprise of Bloomsburg that the girl urinated only because she was frightened by the
principal.
The girl, whose name was withheld by the newspaper, had worked with her classmates and teachers preparing a holiday lunch at Danville Middle School on Dec. 20. The girl was later told to wash some pots and pans, her mother said.
After she refused, teachers summoned principal Kevin Duckworth, who confronted the girl. She then wet her pants.
Her mother said the girl is terrified by Duckworth and has wet herself during previous confrontations with him. She said her daughter has had disciplinary problems at the school but has never become violent.
School officials dispute those claims, saying the girl has assaulted staff and uses urination as a “weapon.”
Duckworth said the decision to call police was made in consultation with the girl’s parents, in hopes it would improve her behavior. He said it appears the mother later regretted the decision.
Police Chief Eric Gill said school officials were at “wit’s end” with the girl, and that they believe her actions were deliberate.
Montour County District Attorney Robert Buehner spoke with Keifer and Gill on Thursday and decided to drop the disorderly conduct charge.
“I think to bring a 12-year-old girl into the criminal justice system, when there are better alternatives, it makes better sense to just let the school district handle it with the child and parents,” Buehner said.
