NIAGARA FALLS
Student accused of rape at school
NIAGARA FALLS — A 16-yearold male Niagara Falls High School student has been accused of rape by a 14-year-old female student — and both have been suspended from school, Superintendent Cynthia A. Bianco told The Buffalo News on Tuesday.
The girl told school officials the rape occurred in a stairwell between classes the morning of Oct. 7. The boy was arraigned two days later on a felony charge of first-degree rape, based largely on the girl’s statement to officers, and is free on $10,000 bail, city police said.
Information about the case was not made public until this week, and even now, Bianco is unwilling to explain why an alleged rape victim also was suspended from school, except to say that both teens were suspended for about a month for “violation of school rules.”
“They were given the suspension [after a hearing], and I agreed with suspension,” Bianco said.
She said that despite felony charges against the youth, he would be allowed back into school soon. She said what happens after the suspension will be left up to the courts.
The Buffalo News is not naming the youth at this time because he could be granted youthful offender status.
Bianco said the district met its responsibility to notify the parents of the two teens and the police after the girl reported she had been raped.
Niagara Falls Police Juvenile Detective Capt. Nicholas Paonessa this morning described the incident as a "date rape."
He said the girl said she was raped in a secluded stairwell during a very short period of time.
State penal law says that firstdegree rape is forcible rape that involves intercourse, even if it’s just for an instant.
Paonessa said the girl was suspended by the school because the actions of both teens before the date rape situation were against school policy.
"We don't want to make it look like the victim had any culpability," Paonessa said.
“It a very large school,” he added about Niagara Falls High, “but kids still manage to find nooks and crannies. The school has surveillance all over the place, but some of these kids have managed to find the places where the cameras don’t catch . . . ”
“We can track students throughout the school,” he added, “and confirm things the witnesses have told us to help the case.”
Two school resource officers patrol the high school daily, with help from administrators and staff. There are 72 surveillance cameras, as well.
“You walk in the building and you’d never believe there are 2,200 students and 150 some adults in that building, that’s how nice and quiet it is,” Bianco said. “There have never been a number of incidents that would make people feel that our schools are not safe. However, things happen.”
Because this is a felony case, a Niagara County grand jury may consider an indictment.
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