Girl Allegedly Assaulted On Playground

By Chris Wright, The News On 6

GORE, OK -- A Sequoyah County couple says their daughter was sexually assaulted on the playground, and the school district failed to notify police about it.  The alleged assault happened on Monday at Gore Elementary.

The parents of the seven year old claim she was cornered by three boys from her class.  They say the boys held her down, took her pants off, and touched her inappropriately.

During recess Monday on this playground at Gore Elementary, parents of a seven-year-old student say typical rough-housing quickly got out of control.

"She loves school She beats us up sometimes in the morning to go to school.  Now, she's scared to death to go to school, and it shouldn't be that way," said Brian Ferguson.

Brian and Shannon Ferguson say their daughter has not slept much since Monday's alleged assault. 

They are appalled about what they say happened, but are enraged about how the Gore School District has handled the incident.  The Fergusons say the three boys were disciplined at school, and then sent home.  They also say the superintendent did not tell them what happened until several hours later.

"We, the parents of the victims, were actually notified last.  We were the last ones to be notified," said Shannon Ferguson.

Furthermore, the Fergusons say the district never called police.  They filed a report themselves.  According to the Department of Human Services, that is a violation of Oklahoma law.

The Department of Human Services says if this incident did, in fact, occur, and officials knew about it and didn't properly report it, they could potentially face misdemeanor charges of failure to report and failure to protect.

The Fergusons have hired a lawyer and say they are determined to make sure their daughter once again feels safe during recess.

"It's going to be taken care of, I'll promise you that.  Every breath I take, it will be taken care of one way or another," said Brian Ferguson.

Gore Police would only say that they did investigate an incident at the school, and have forwarded their findings to juvenile services.

Gore Public Schools' superintendent declined to comment.