Controversy Continues In Agassiz Assault Case

The controversy surrounding an alleged sexual assault last month at the Agassiz School intensified last week when the mother of the victim took the case to the parents of the school's students.

The woman sent an unsigned letter to the parents of all students in the school, complaining that the investigation had ended without a satisfactory conclusion.

But many parents, some of whom could not speak or read English well, thought the letter was an official notice from Superintendent Mary Lou McGrath, chastising their child for sexually abusing another child.

"They thought the letter they received in the mail was my letter and they got angry at their child," McGrath said.

Last month, an Agassiz student was accused of forcing a younger student into a bathroom and molesting him.

In a letter, McGrath sent to the mother on November 20, she explained why the investigation was closed. McGrath said that the alleged victim would have to be interviewed by a psychologist in order for the investigation to continue.

"We got to a certain point, and we needed to have an opportunity for someone who's trained to talk to the student," she said in an interview yesterday.

The mother told McGrath that she did not want her child to be traumatized further by an interview with a psychologist. She told McGrath that the school should now interview the older student.

The school's policy is not to interview the alleged wrongdoer unless the charges have been validated by a psychologist, according to McGrath.

The mother enclosed in her mailing a copy of McGrath's letter explaining why the case had been closed. The name of the alleged victim was deleted.

Many parents thought the letter was addressed to them, and accused their child of sexual assault, according to McGrath.

Parents called McGrath for further information. Last Friday she sent out a mailing to all Agassiz School parents, disclaiming any association with the letters sent by the mother, and explaining that the case did not involve their child.

"I think it is entirely inappropriate for me, or anyone else, to discuss incidents involving individual children in correspondence of the sort you received," McGrath's letter read in part.

The superintendent said yesterday that the investigation is still closed, and no parent has asked her to reopen the case.

McGrath would not release the name of the mother.