Township Police Officer Tiffany D'Emidio said yesterday that she could not comment except to say that the matter was "under investigation."
Monique Modeste, the mother of one of the girls, said yesterday that she was "glad to see this being taken seriously - finally. . . . These girls, and all girls in the school, need to know that it's OK to be free to speak up when something is wrong."
The issue surfaced Feb. 7, when the mother of a sixth-grade girl in the 355-student kindergarten-to-sixth-grade school learned that a male classmate of her daughter's had torn the girl's sweater while grabbing for her breasts. Her complaint to Moore that seven or eight boys were inappropriately touching a group of girls triggered a district inquiry.
Other girls and their parents subsequently reported inappropriate touching of the girls on the buttocks, breasts and crotch, taking place on the playground at recess, in school hallways, and in classrooms since late last year.
The district has not identified any of the students. The Inquirer is withholding students' names because of the nature of the alleged incidents.
Moore gave two of the boys two-day in-school suspensions. He said he would reopen the matter if the more serious allegations made about the boys' conduct after his initial investigation were proved true.
In the letter to parents, Moore said that a victims' assistance group had been called in to talk to all the girls involved and that counselors would speak to all fifth and sixth graders about bullying and sexual harassment.
The school has no anti-bullying programs. Moore's letter said he planned to add a program to the school's curriculum "that addresses bullying and sexual harassment."
Contact staff writer Dan Hardyat 610-701-7638 or dhardy@phillynews.com.
