Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Student, 13, says man groped her

She escaped unharmed after the incident at Coleman Middle School in Tampa.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published January 12, 2007

TAMPA - Police are investigating a claim that a deliveryman grabbed and groped a 13-year-old girl at Coleman Middle School.

The girl told investigators a man came up behind her about dismissal time Wednesday and held onto her, touching her breast, police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

The student quickly escaped from the attacker, and she was not injured, police say.

"She did everything she should have done," school district spokesman Steve Hegarty said. "She was able to get free. She was able to get away."

No one has been arrested in the case, but police interviewed people at Coleman on Thursday, trying to piece together what happened.

"We're just right now in the process of investigating that allegation," McElroy said. "We're talking to everyone who made a delivery to that school yesterday."

Hegarty said he could not identify the suspect. He said the suspect was not a School Board employee, but had permission to be on the school's campus.

Coleman, 1724 S Manhattan Ave., has a secure, fenced-in campus, and a school resource officer was on duty at the time of the incident, he said.

Dismissal time is 3:45 p.m., according to the school district Web site. As of September, the school had 892 students in Grades 6 through 8.

In a letter to parents, principal Michael Hoskinson praised the student for handling the situation perfectly, and said the girl immediately reported the attack to her teacher.

The school resource officer immediately began investigating, he wrote.

"We are taking the allegations very seriously and are working closely with the Tampa Police Department," Hoskinson wrote.

Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 813 226-3373 or vansickle@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 12, 2007, 05:45:47]