Parents of three of the four children who were in the classroom where the abuse allegedly occurred, including school board member Jim Pepper, addressed the board and attendees Thursday night, condemning the lack of action taken in the face of the abuse allegations.
“I’m here tonight to speak on behalf of my son, a boy who cannot speak for himself, one of the children who was affected by the abuse and the neglect in the classroom,” said Donna O’Donnell. “He may have been labeled as child number four, but to us and to many others in the community, he is not a number. He is a boy with a larger-than-life personality … He is a child loved by everyone who meets him, a child who came to school expecting to be supported, guided, and most of all protected. Instead, he was neglected, overlooked by the very teachers and academic providers who were entrusted with his care.”
O’Donnell said she first learned of the abuse allegations not from school officials, but from the Warwick Township Police, who investigated after the district reported it to ChildLine, the state child protective services hotline. She said she did not speak with school officials until she reached out to the principal in January.
“Neglect is not just an oversight,” she said. “It’s a breach of trust. And cover up is not a mistake. It’s a choice. People had a choice to do the right thing from the beginning, but chose power and self-preservation instead of safety of the most vulnerable children.”
Pepper criticized Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn for declining to pursue criminal charges, and expressed doubt that Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday would pursue charges. Pepper called on David Metcalf, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to open a criminal investigation.
“There is an abundance of evidence that my son’s constitutional rights were violated and the other defenseless children’s constitutional rights were violated,” Pepper said. “And I beg you to open an investigation into the violation of their constitutional rights. They are no less than any other child in this district. They are no less than any other child in this country.”
“It is time for the treatment of children like my boy as a, not even a second-class citizen, like an animal, to end,” he said. “And for our principles in this country, most especially for equal protection under the law to be enforced. And if our DA won’t do it, and if our attorney general won’t do it, then the federal government must do it, otherwise it’s going to happen again and again and again.”
Pepper is the lone Republican on the school board. Community member Mariann Davies criticized four Democratic board members who she said “have remained steadfastly silent on this most egregious abuse and cover-up.”
“That is not leadership, it’s cowardice,” she said. “Central Bucks School District deserves better.”