Durham 16-year-old charged with raping minor at school
DURHAM (WTVD) -- A 16-year-old is charged with first-degree rape of another 16-year-old and Durham Public Schools confirms the alleged attack happened on the campus of Southern School of Energy and Sustainability.
Arrest warrants show 16-year-old Anthony Perry is charged with first-degree rape, assault by strangulation and several counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. The warrants also show the alleged attack happened on Dec. 9, but parents of students at Southern wonder why they didn't know about it earlier.
"It's been almost two months. They should have said something earlier," said a mother of two teenagers who did not want to share her name, "not necessarily the details, but that there was an incident, even just that there was some sort of assault or an accusation of assault."
ABC11 spoke to that mother around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. During that conversation, she received an automated call from her teenagers' principal.
The message started off by saying, "A student of Southern School of Energy and Sustainability has been accused of rape or rape of another student in our building." It went on to say, "Although the information was thoroughly investigated by the school, both parties were listened to in a non-bias manner. It is now left up to the courts to decide what actually took place."
The attack, as described in the arrest warrants, showed the suspect tightened the victim's scarf around her neck, and then forced himself on her sexually. They also show that at some point, the suspect recorded a video call with the victim that included sexual acts.
"It troubles me deeply to hear of these very serious allegations against one of our students. I understand that law enforcement was notified almost immediately after the alleged incident took place, and we are of course doing anything we can to support their investigation. Southern takes pride in being a place of learning and community, so any allegations such as this will be swiftly addressed," said Durham Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Bert L'Homme in a statement.
There's no word yet on where exactly on campus the alleged attack happened or if it was during school hours.
Before ending the blanket message sent out to parents now almost two months after the reported assault, the principal made a plea to students in going forward, "I asked that our students please refrain from passing judgment in the school toward the young man and the young lady. Again, this is up to our courts to decide now."
