MAPLEWOOD, Mo. – When a new neighbor moved in, Serina Mikunda opened up her home.
“We found out he lived in transitional housing,” Mikunda said. “We started inviting him to come over and have food because he didn't have enough.”
Mikunda said the neighbor, a teen-aged boy, assaulted her 13-year-old daughter on the sidewalk outside of her home. It happened late last year.
“He put his hands on her and went under her clothes,” Mikunda said. “She felt that it was her fault, that she had done something to justify it. And, she did not tell me, even though we are very close.”
Mikunda filed a report with Maplewood Police. Police investigated, applied for warrants and turned the case over to the Prosecuting Attorney’s office. The case was reviewed but there was insufficient evidence to charge the boy, according to Ed Magee, a spokesperson for the Prosecuting Attorney.
The boy moved from Mikunda’s neighborhood, but Serina’s daughter still sees him.
“She's afraid to go to the school at all anymore,” she said.
The boy is a student at Maplewood Richmond Heights High School, which shares a campus with the middle school, where Mikunda’s daughter attends.
Due to privacy laws, school administrators cannot comment on this specific case. In general, when there are allegations of inappropriate behavior between individual students, the district creates a safety plan. Unless a specific incident results in a student being charged under Missouri's Safe Schools Act or causes a disruption to the educational environment in the school, public schools are required to continue to provide a free and appropriate public education to all students, according to a district spokesperson.
“It feels very much like the entire system does not support her in this, but they do support him,” Mikunda said. “She's had anxiety attacks at school and had to be removed from classes.”
She said the boy has been put in the same room, even standing behind her daughter during choir practice. She said the school should have moved him out of the building or made more efforts to separate them.
“I hope in the future, sexual assault victims do not have to choose between their education and their life,” Mikunda said.
