The Northern Marianas Governor has asked the Board of Education to take allegations of sexual abuse seriously and adopt protocols to prevent such cases from happening.
CNMI Governor Ralp DLG Torres. Photo: Office of the Governor of CNMI
Ralph Torres recently requested the Office of the Attorney General to investigate the matter.
Torres said victims of sexual assault within the islands' Public School System deserved justice.
The governor said there had always been rumours of sexual misconduct perpetrated on public school students in the past with the latest case happening a few months ago.
He said the Public School System always prided itself in prioritising the interests of students first, but not taking allegations of sexual abuse of students more seriously had put that philosophy into question.
Earlier PSS said even if it wanted to, it could not disclose previous cases of sexual abuse allegations involving its staff due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that protected the privacy of student education records.
This was in response to a recent Open Government Act request from a private citizen requesting such documents, in light of the recent allegations of sexual abuse of students in PSS campuses.
However PSS did say it intended to fully cooperate with the Office Attorney General's investigation on alleged sexual abuse at PSS once it commenced.
Photo: 123RF