Allegations of same-sex sexual assault have emerged at a prestigious Orange County public high school, known for its large Korean-American student population.
The controversy has been escalating as the parent of the alleged victim has repeatedly demanded an investigation and explanation from the school and district through social media videos.
The controversy began on January 3 with a video titled “Justice for Santiago” posted on the social media platform TikTok. The video was posted by a woman named Beatriz, the mother of the victimized student.
According to the video, the incident allegedly occurred last December in a restroom at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton.
“My child with autism is 14 years old and currently attends Sunny Hills High School,” Beatriz said in the video, explaining why she posted the video, “This is the only way I can find justice for my child.”
In the video, the mother recounts the events of the incident, including that the male student asked her child to take off his pants in a school bathroom, that the male student also took off his pants and asked the child to open his mouth (omitted), and that the male student offered to pay her child $5.
“I think everyone can infer what happened (without going into detail),” Beatriz said, adding, “The student was very aware of my child’s condition and it certainly wouldn’t be the first time, and we brought it to the attention of the school, but no action was taken.”
In the video, the parent claims that her child was able to explain what happened and even filed a report, as she knew the details of the other boy involved, but the police “closed the investigation due to lack of evidence,” she says.
“Instead, they told me that my child was just saying what he saw on TV because he’s autistic, or that it could have been a made-up story,” the parent said, adding, “We also reported the incident to the school district, but it was dismissed and they just wanted to cover it up.”
The student’s mother posted two videos. The videos have been viewed more than 170,000 times and received more than 2,200 comments.
As the controversy unfolded, Sunny Hills High School sent out a notice to parents, stating that “there is unfortunately not much specific information I can provide at this time about any kind of allegation, investigation, etc. due to student confidentiality issues,” and that “the safety of our students on campus is our number one priority.”
Despite the school’s statement, the controversy continues to escalate.
An online petition site, change.org, has started a petition titled “Help Seek Justice for Santiago”. The petition has garnered more than 4,200 signatures in less than a week.
The petition was created under the username “Concerned Sunny Hills Students.” Based on some of the phrases in the petition, such as “our classmate,” it appears to be created by current students at Sunny Hills High School.
From the petition, it reads, “We believe the district and school should conduct a further investigation into this matter to ensure that justice is served. We also urge them to implement stronger measures protecting students with disabilities from sexual assault. Please sign this petition if you stand with us in advocating for justice for our classmate and improved safety measures within our schools.”
The Korea Daily reached out to Sunny Hills High School for comment on the controversy but did not receive a response as of 2 p.m. on January 18.
Founded in 1959, Sunny Hills High School is a highly regarded public high school in the predominantly Korean-American neighborhood of Fullerton, with accolades including being named one of Newsweek’s top 20 public high schools in 1998, one of the top five best public schools in the state in 2000, and one of the top 100 best schools in the nation in 2003.
BY YEOL JANG, JUNHAN PARK [jang.yeol@koreadaily.com]
