2 students suspended in Fels High sexual assault

The school district has taken steps to suspend two 15-year-old boys accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl Tuesday inside a classroom closet at Samuel Fels High School in Oxford Circle.

Also, the district has suspended the substitute teacher who was holding class at the time, and district officials said that they will seek to bar the teacher permanently from the city's schools.

The alleged victim, a ninth-grader, reported that she had been on her way to lunch when the two boys, also ninth-graders, "pulled her into the closet" and assaulted her about 1 p.m., school district spokeswoman Felicia Ward said yesterday.

But the alleged assault took place "in a classroom full of kids, and none of the kids nor the teacher said they saw or heard anything," Ward said.

None of the three students in the closet was part of the class, she added.

The two boys were taken into custody by Philadelphia police Tuesday for investigation and later released without charges, according to Sgt. Brian King of the Special Victims Unit.

Ward said that the district would seek to expel the boys and was immediately suspending the male substitute teacher.

Fernando Gallard, another spokesman for the district, said the district has accused the teacher of failing to control his classroom.

Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said yesterday that the district cannot bar the teacher "without giving him due process." *