Pittsburgh police arrested a 14-year-old boy as he arrived at school Monday and charged him with raping a fellow student in the basement of their North Side school.
The boy, whom police did not name because of his age, grabbed the 15-year-old girl by the arm at Pittsburgh King PreK-8, tossed her down a set of stairs and assaulted her as the school day ended about 3 p.m. Friday, police said.
The girl, an eighth-grader, reported the incident to a school bus driver, who alerted school officials and called police. Pittsburgh Public Schools police responded and turned the matter over to city police, said district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh.
The girl was treated at Children's Hospital in Lawrenceville. Investigators searched the school over the weekend, collected evidence and were reviewing surveillance video.
Detectives took the boy to Shuman Juvenile Detention Center on juvenile charges of rape and indecent assault, said police Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki.
The boy's family declined to comment.
Alicia Wilson's two children attend the school. She said she wished the district had notified parents about the incident.
"It makes me feel very frightened," said Wilson, of the North Side. "There have been so many problems at this school to the point where Pittsburgh police are called. It's terrible and it scares me. The kids are out of control, and the administration is very disorganized."
Pugh said at times extra school police officers were stationed at the school this year, though city police hadn't been called to the school until Friday.
"School officials are conducting an internal investigation to determine how the alleged incident could have occurred," she said.
Superintendent Mark Roosevelt had no comment.
"There are concerns district-wide; it's not just King," said school board member Mark Brentley Sr. of the North Side. "It concerns me when any allegation is made."
City police said the district added security to all floors of the school yesterday.
Eighth-grade students graduate today, and the final day of the school year is Wednesday.
The suspect is the same age as a male student Upper St. Clair police charged in 2008 with raping several female students on and off campus at the township's high school. He pleaded guilty to several charges, but his punishment was not made public because a judge kept the case in juvenile court, which can oversee defendants until they are 21.
