NYC city schools have a serious sex crime problem
New York City NY Aug 17 2018 The number of city students charged with felony sex crimes skyrocketed by 138 percent during the last academic year, according to a Post analysis of NYPD school-safety data.
There were a total of 31 felony sexual-misconduct busts during the 2017-2018 school year for crimes ranging from rape to sexual abuse, the figures show.
That’s up sharply from 13 felony student sex arrests in 2016-2017.
Overall school sex-crime cases — including misdemeanor forcible- touching raps — spiked by 76 percent, up from 51 during 2016-2017 to 83 last year.
The second quarter of this year — the most recent period for which NYPD stats are available — saw the highest number of school felony sex crimes since the department began keeping track in 2016.
There were 27 sexual- misconduct arrests overall during the three-month stretch, with 10 of them carrying felony charges.
Arrests of students on rape charges also more than doubled last year, rising from five in 2016-2017 to 12 last year, the NYPD records show.
“This is deeply troubling behavior that has absolutely no place in our schools and we remain laser-focused on taking action to address it,” said DOE spokeswoman Miranda Barbot.
The figures mirror similar trends in separately gathered state school sex- offense data.
“Forcible” sex offenses at city public schools hit their highest rate in a decade during the 2016-2017 academic year and have more than doubled since 2014, according to state reports.
Rising sexual-misconduct numbers come as the city Department of Education touts a multiyear drop in overall school crime, arrests and summonses.
The DOE announced last week that “major crime” busts dipped by 7.5 percent last year compared with 2016-2017.
Student arrests fell by 5.6 percent from 1,240 in 2017 to 1,171 last year while summonses dropped 6.2 percent from 885 to 833 during that stretch.
The city will expand its “Warning Card” program, which issues written caution citations to kids for such “low-level” infractions as disorderly conduct and possession of small amounts of pot, in lieu of court summonses.
NY Post
