Lake Elsinore parents protest for increased school safety after teenager arrested for sexually assaulting children

Parents of dozens of Lake Elsinore Unified School District students gathered on Friday to call for additional school safety in the wake of a harrowing incident that saw a 15-year-old trespass on a school’s campus before committing lewd acts on children. 

The initial incident occurred on Monday, when the teenager snuck on Lakeland Village School’s campus. According to Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, the suspect “entered the school grounds and committed a lewd act upon a child while on campus. The suspect was not a student of the school and had no permission to be on campus.”

The suspect attempted to flee on foot, but was caught by some parents in the area who held him until police could take him into custody. 

Investigators located the student who was assaulted, indicated that there may have been other students who were victims as well. 

As a result, the school was placed on lockdown for a large part of the day on Monday. 

Now, parents are demanding answers, as this allegedly isn’t the first time that someone has trespassed on campus, and at least the third time that the suspect had done so. 

Those enraged family members stood out from of LEUSD’s building, holding signs calling for the firing of several administrative members 

“We have received so much information that proves that this situation could have been prevented,” said Katelyn Finley, one of the many parents present at the protest. “Principals were made aware of this individual walking around school premises two months before it happened. Staff members have expressed concern to the principal about safety issues like cameras not working.”

“This has happened several times that people have been able to get on this campus and they don’t know who they are and they go to the restrooms,” said Stephanie Bingham, another parent on hand Friday. 

In response to the protestors, the Lake Elsinore Unified School District Superintendent’s Office issued a statement.

“As an educator and a parent, I know that we expect our children to be safe while at school, always,” the statement read in part. “Our safe place was compromised, and we empathize with our students and staff who experienced this traumatic event. We remain committed to evaluating our safety protocols and soon our district will participate in an independent security consultant audit to assist us as we continue to look for ways to improve our layered security approach.”

So far, that’s far from enough for parents, who are also concerned because the case has been given to a district employee who has previously been accused of crude behavior at a work function. 

“He’s the one that they’re directing us to to handle these formal complaints,” Finley said.

When CBS reached out to Riverside County Sheriff’s Department for comment, they issued a statement which read:

“On two other occasions in late August 2022, we are aware that this same suspect had been in the parking lot of the same school.  On both occasions. deputies found the juvenile walking around in the parking lot that is open to the public.  There was no criminal act committed on either occasion.  We are not aware of any other circumstance in which the suspect made it onto the campus behind the gates in violation of any criminal law.”

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