The principal who accused a 9-year-old North Carolina boy of sexual harassment for allegedly calling a teacher "cute" has been forced to retire.

The story of Emanyea Lockett's suspension last week, first reported by WSOC-TV of Charlotte, N.C., created a national controversy. Tuesday, the Gaston County School District apologized to the family and said there was no sexual harassment.

Jerry Bostic, principal of Brookside Elementary School in Gastonia, told WSOC on Tuesday night that he had retired because of the controversy.

"One mistake in 44 years, and I'm not given the benefit of the doubt. I really don't believe I was treated fairly," Bostic told the station.

Read the full story at WSOC-TV

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There's more to the widely reported story of the 9-year-old North Carolina student whose mother says he was suspended for sexual harassment for calling his teacher "cute."

WSOC-TV of Charlotte, N.C. — which broke the story that got worldwide coverage Monday — followed up Tuesday by reporting that officials at Brookside Elementary School in Gastonia sent Emanyea Lockett's mother a letter outlining further behavior it said was inappropriate and merited suspension:

In addition to the comment about the teacher, Emanyea had been warned about calling students bad words. They said all of the comments are inappropriate and violate the student code of conduct. ...

"What's in that letter, what they accuse him about — if that's true, I should have been notified about it," Chiquita Lockett said. "And if so, then I would have seen where a suspension would have taken place."

Read the full story at WSOC-TV

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A 9-year-old boy was suspended from school for two days for sexual harassment last week after he called his teacher "cute," his mother says.

Chiquita Lockett of Gastonia, N.C., told WSOC-TV of Charlotte, N.C., which first reported the story, that her 9-year-old son, Emanyea, shouldn't have been sent home from Brookside Elementary School.

"It's not like he went up to the woman and tried to grab her or touch her in a sexual way," Lockett told WSOC. "So why would he be suspended for two days?"

The Gaston County school district said it couldn't discuss the incident beyond confirming that Emanyea was suspended for "inappropriate behavior" after making "inappropriate statements."

Full story: Mother says son was suspended for calling teacher 'cute' (WSOC-TV)

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A 7-year-old boy has been accused of sexual harassment after punching a fellow first-grader in the groin, but the boy's mother says he was acting in self-defense.

Tasha Lynch told The Boston Globe that her son, Mark Curran, was being choked during the Nov. 22 incident on a school bus, and has been afraid to go back to school in South Boston ever since.

“I think my kid was right to fight back [after he was choked],’’ she said. “He wasn’t doing anything except protecting himself.’’

A spokesman for the Boston public schools confirmed the incident had been classified as possible sexual harassment, but declined to comment it. Curran faces suspension or being transferred to another school if his actions are deemed to be sexual harassment, according to a letter from his school.

“Any kind of inappropriate touching would fall under that category,’’ school spokesman Matthew Wilder said to The Globe. “The school administration is conducting a full investigation that has not concluded yet. Certainly, once that investigation is through, we’ll then make a final conclusion as to who will be disciplined and how.’’

Boy took his gloves, choked him, kid says
Lynch said she could tell her son was upset when she picked him up from the bus stop after school on Nov. 22. She said she asked him what was wrong, and he told her another boy had choked him and taken his new gloves.

Furious, Lynch said she went up to the bus driver and demanded to know what had happened.

“He just smiled and shrugged,’’ she said. She called school officials but no one got back to her, so the following week she had her older son took Mark into the principal's office to tell her, reported The Globe.

“I just thought they were going to call the parents, tell us both to come in and make the boys shake hands,’’ Lynch said. Or, at least, make the other boy return her son's gloves. Instead, Tynan Elementary school officials began questioning Mark about his role in the scuffle.

“They didn’t believe me,’’ Curran told The Globe on Thursday. “I didn’t get my gloves back.’’

Tynan Elementary School Principal Leslie Gant didn't believe that Mark was acting out of self-defense, Lynch told The Globe.

“She said, ‘It doesn’t matter who hit who first,’ ’’ Lynch said. “‘He said he hit him in the testicles. That’s assault. That’s sexual assault.’"

I said: ‘The kid choked my son first and that’s called attempted murder. He said he couldn’t breathe.’’’

The school sent a letter to stating her son was accused of sexual harassment and endangering physical safety of other students.

A hearing for Curran will be held on Monday.

Lynch has told the school she doesn't want her son riding the bus without an adult there to make sure he's safe.

• Read the full story in The Boston Globe

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