Three juveniles charged in connection with alleged sexual assault at Brookstone School

Three male juveniles are facing hazing and sexual battery charges connected to the sexual assault of an 11-year-old Brookstone School student, authorities said.

Columbus Police Detective Lt. Joyce Dent-Fitzpatrick declined to release the names and ages of the boys accused in the Feb. 9 incident at Brookstone School. She said the minors are “affiliated with the school.”

The suspects have not been taken into custody, but police sent them letters Aug. 26 informing them about their charges.

Each boy will be represented by a separate attorney when they appear in Juvenile Court to face the charges, Fitzpatrick said. The date of the preliminary hearing wasn’t immediately available.

The first official report in what police described as criminal attempt aggravated sodomy was filed July 15, Fitzpatrick confirmed.

The victim’s mother said the boy was in the Brookstone School locker room when someone tried to sexually assault him around 5 p.m. Feb. 9, according to the report. The boy was a member of the middle school baseball team at the time.

Fitzpatrick declined to go into detail about the incident, but she said it was captured on the school’s surveillance camera.

“We viewed the video and we felt there was enough significant evidence to charge them with hazing and sexual battery,” she said.

Fitzpatrick said Brookstone School officials informed police about the video in the beginning stages of the investigation, but the incident itself was reported to officials five months after it happened.

Frank Brown, interim headmaster at the private school at 440 Bradley Park Drive, said in July that the school reported the “alleged student misconduct” to authorities on Feb. 10.

He did not clarify to whom he was referring when he said authorities. Today’s attempt to reach Brown was unsuccessful.

Under Georgia law, school teachers, coaches, principals and others at public or private schools are mandated to report possible child abuse no later than 24 hours after there is reasonable cause to believe a child has been abused.

— Sarah is a crime and safety reporter at The Ledger-Enquirer. You can contact her on Twitter at @SarahR_92.

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 11:49 AM.