KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 12 year-old girl says she was assaulted by two teenage boys at a metro community center. The girl said the assault happened during a Mayor’s Night event designed to keep kids safe and out of trouble.
Now police are investigating the girl’s claims. KC police say two 14-year-old boys forced the girl inside a bathroom at the Tony Aguirre Community Center. Police say the girl told them the boys touched her inappropriately and wouldn`t let her leave.
Police say the boys told them that the girl went into the bathroom voluntarily, but they denied touching her.
That community center is one of 10 facilities that hosts the Mayor’s Night Out program for teens. The idea is to give kids a safe place to have fun.
Roosevelt Lyons, the superintendent of the KC Parks and Recreation Department, which facilitates the youth program, says his staff and police were on hand immediately to mitigate the incident.
“Had an incident like this happened outside of our community center where there was no police or adults it could have been a lot worse, and that`s not to minimize the young lady’s incident because that`s obviously a traumatic thing to happen,” Lyons said.
He also says the facility is staffed with 13 to 16 adults, including two or three police officers to keep the 130 to 150 kids safe during the events.
Moving forward, Lyons says staff will also monitor the hallways near the bathrooms and other areas where there is a potential for kids to duck around corners.
Mayor Sly James gave this statement in light of the allegations:
“I created Mayor’s Nights and Club KC to give our young people a safe and fun environment to spend their summer evenings. I was deeply troubled to learn about the unacceptable situation involving a female participant that took place at the Tony Aguirre Community Center this past weekend. Fortunately, the staff acted swiftly to address the incident and law enforcement handled the situation with the two male participants. This type of behavior will not be tolerated. No young person should be put in a dangerous, or even uncomfortable, situation at these events. The details surrounding the incident are still being investigated, and staff will take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of all Mayor’s Nights and Club KC participants.”
