Oklahoma county launches safety initiative after ‘extremely concerning’ allegations of schoolchildren abusing other minors

The Wagoner County District Attorney’s Office in Oklahoma is working to address the rising problem of juvenile violence after recent allegations of students harming other children at an area junior high school.

“There are some new allegations that are extremely concerning coming out of some of the public schools, and this office takes these matters extremely seriously,” Lora Montross, assistant district attorney in Wagoner County, told Scripps’ 2 News Oklahoma.

The Coweta Public Schools is working with local police after reports of children sexually harming other children at Donald P. Sloat Junior High School, prompting concerns from the community.

“No child should have to live through that and the fact that this is children doing this to children, it just makes you question what is going on in their home life,” Cissy Haight said.

“What are they being subjected to that they feel brave enough to walk into school and do this to peers?”

‘All about an open line of communication’

To improve coordination between schools and law enforcement agencies, the District Attorney’s Office is launching a new initiative, according to the news article.

“This office has created a liaison for each county, and so there will be four different individuals in each county,” Montross said.

“Those individuals will be working with local law enforcement and the local schools there, and we can go into the schools if we need to and help them with reporting and that sort of thing, but it’s all about an open line of communication.”

Coweta Superintendent Max Myers reaffirmed the district’s commitment to investigate any reports of criminal activity, especially pertaining to students.

“I think any kind of something that is sexual in nature is well beyond what should be happening, whether it’s in school or out of school with kids,” Myers said.

The district enrolls nearly 4,000 students across grades pre-K and K-12.

“Anytime that we find out that there is criminal activity that could be involved, we immediately contact police and turn those investigation documents to them,” Myers said. “We take it very seriously and want all of our students to be safe, and that’s one of our top priorities at the school.”

Sex abuse in schools has historically emphasized the role of educators and staffers victimizing minors, although an increasing number of reports are implicating other students as perpetrators.

As previously reported by The Heartlander, an estimated 95% of educator sexual misconduct cases are handled by schools and districts in house and never reported to law enforcement.