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Santa Fe police investigating alleged sexual assault on school bus
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A 12-year-old Santa Fe charter school student was allegedly sexually assaulted last month on a school bus, according to police.
The victim is a female student enrolled at Monte del Sol Charter School, according to Lt. Patrick Trujillo of the Santa Fe Police Department’s criminal investigation unit.
The alleged suspect is a 13-year-old boy — also a student — who has not been charged at this time. The incident occurred on Aug. 21.
“No charges have been brought forth yet; there were some mitigating circumstances before we could interview the victim,” Trujillo said Monday. “The interview is scheduled for this week, so as soon as she’s interviewed, then, if there’s anything that is disclosed in that interview, then we can move forward with charges.”
He said he could not elaborate on the mitigating circumstances.
For its part, Monte del Sol Charter School said it couldn’t comment on the incident.
“We are unable to provide any information about this open investigation involving minors at our school,” Zoë Nelsen, head of the school, said in a Friday statement.
In addition to the alleged suspect, a student who recorded the incident could also face charges.
“It could be more than just the student who allegedly committed the incident, because it just depends on the incident,” Trujillo said. “The student that recorded the incident, if they’re the ones who transferred it, then they… could face some type of criminal charges as well.”
He added that the police department was “able to get some phones,” but that he wasn’t sure if they had determined who recorded the incident.
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“It’s kind of hard for young kids nowadays,” Trujillo said. “Obviously, we’d rather have them stop the incident from happening than to record the incident while it’s happening.”
