Multiple groping incidents involving Irmo High students detailed in police reports
Students at Irmo High School have raised concerns about sexual assault on campus, most prominently with a student-led walkout on Friday.
Irmo High students who spoke to The State said they have repeatedly raised concerns about a student they accuse of groping classmates, and what they see as a lack of responsiveness from school administration and law enforcement.
Reports from the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department back up complaints from students. Investigators have received five reports of “inappropriate touching” at the high school this school year, including one where four students came forward together to allege separate incidents of groping by one fellow student.
Because the names of juveniles were redacted from the reports, it’s unclear if all the reports relate to one student.
The most detailed report was filed on Oct. 12, when three girls and one boy reported their experiences to the school’s resource officer. The students said they knew of as many as 17 students at Irmo High School who have been touched by one unnamed student.
The female students said the student had repeatedly touched them on their breasts and buttocks. One said he would hold on to her to prevent her from moving away from him until she had to hit him. Some said he had also placed his hands around their necks to choke them as well.
Many said no action had been taken when they reported the behavior, and one said “it made things worse because (redacted) did not stop and has since become more aggressive and threatening.”
The male student reported that on multiple occasions his classmate had grabbed his genitals, and that when he confronted the other student about it, he put him in a choke hold. He told the investigator other students are afraid of the sexually aggressive student who would “threaten to harm them.” He said when he previously reported the student’s behavior, the attacker was suspended for a few days, but then resumed the behavior when he returned to school.
Subsequent reports indicate as many as five other students also reported “inappropriate” touching from another student this school year.
Students who spoke to The State said they felt their concerns had been dismissed by school officials without any major actions being taken.
“They say, ‘There’s no proof this happened, we can’t do anything,’” Irmo High senior Mae Sproul told The State. “They act like we’re just making it up.”
Those frustrations boiled over into several students walking out of class on Friday afternoon and rallying along St. Andrews Road outside the campus.
Those complaints combined with concerns about a string of fights that have broken out at Irmo High School.Investigators said one of those fights led to an off-campus shooting last week.
The Lexington-Richland 5 school district had previously declined to answer questions from The State about the allegations, citing a policy of not commenting on disciplinary matters involving specific students.
At Monday’s meeting of the Lexington-Richland 5 school board, Superintendent Akil Ross said he had spoken with students about their “personal stories” of their experiences, and told the board that “the student who was brought to our attention is not a student at Irmo High School.”
The school district later clarified that the individual is no longer a student at Irmo High School.
This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 12:24 PM.
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