ROCKDALE COUNTY, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -
A Rockdale County mom who wants to be called Ann says she is embarrassed, worried and outraged that her 12-year-old special-needs son and a 13-year-old special-needs girl have been criminally charged after they were found in the boys bathroom at Conyers Middle School.
"The school told me he was caught in the boy's bathroom kissing a girl," said Ann
Ann says her son was given a three-day suspension, but she says a few days later she was summoned to Rockdale County court. Her son and the girl were arrested.
"They said the charge was statutory rape. I turned around and I looked at my uncle and I looked at his ex-counselor and I said, 'something is not right here,'" said Ann.
Ann says from the beginning, both kids have maintained they never had sex, and she says there is no proof or an eyewitness account that says they had sex.
"Kids are going to be kids. I think it is wrong that both of these kids are being charged with something this severe," said Ann. "He's never been in trouble with the law."
CBS Atlanta asked the Rockdale County District Attorney's office Tough Questions about why the students are facing such serious charges. The lead prosecutor said it was because the incident happened in a school and something needed to be done to intervene on behalf of the two teens. Chief Assistant District Attorney Bob Houman also said authorities had to protect other students from potential harm.
Ann and members of the National Action Network, a civil rights organization, say the D.A.'s actions and reasoning don't make sense.
"There is a problem with the law. Anybody with common sense knows that statutory rape was not meant for children and adolescents so close in age doing what we naturally do," said Marcus Coleman, with the National Action Network.
"My son is ruined because of this. He's been traumatized," said Ann.
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