FULTON, N.Y. — It took the Fulton City School District nearly a month to notify the community about a student attempting to sexually assault two classmates on the same day. At least one legal expert said that’s a big problem.
“The school should have notified the community as soon as it happened,” Nicholas Marricco said.
Marricco is an attorney with the Tully Rinckey Law Firm. Based in Manhattan, his “bread and butter” is public education – spending his entire career working on cases involving school districts in New York State. He said that the attempted assaults – with the 15-year-old alleged perpetrator now facing criminal charges – likely live up to the legal standards of the federal Safe Schools Against Violence in Education Act (SAVE), which has certain requirements with respect to publicly reporting incidents that could be considered violent.
Police stated that district officials were made aware of both incidents that same day; a letter did not go out from Superintendent Brian Pulvino to families until June 10, only after CNY Central confirmed the police investigation.
“We are aware of media reports regarding a serious incident of alleged sexual assault that occurred at G. Ray Bodley High School on May 13, 2024. Due to student privacy, we cannot comment on the specific information in the media report,” the letter begins.
Marricco confirmed that legally, the school district cannot disclose any information regarding punitive action taken against a student. While the district declined to answer our specific questions about if and when the alleged perpetrator was suspended from class, Superintendent Pulvino did state that the district is following its Code of Conduct as well as applicable New York State regulations. He said that the police for serious infractions include immediate suspension of a student, pending an investigation by both the district and police.
Marricco said that this is a critical step in the process and he would be shocked if Fulton did not take the necessary steps to remove the alleged perpetrator from the school.
“I cannot even fathom the possibility that they didn’t suspend the perpetrator and conduct a hearing,” Marricco said.
Both of the victims supplied statements in this case to law enforcement. The suspect was later interviewed and confessed.
Due to this age and the seriousness of the alleged crimes, arrangements were made to have the 15-year-old suspect arraigned in Family Court with the assistance of the Oswego County District Attorney’s Office, according to police.
The suspect was arraigned on May 31 and was charged with the following:
- Forcible touching
- Two counts of endangering the welfare of a child
- Attempted criminal sex act in the first degree
- Unlawful imprisonment in the second degree
- Harassment in the second degree
