Charges dropped against girl who wet her pants

Special ed student, 12, was hit with disorderly conduct charge for discharge

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updated 1:10 a.m. ET Jan. 5, 2007

DANVILLE, Pa. - Authorities are dropping a disorderly conduct charge against a 12-year-old special education student who they accused of deliberately wetting her pants at school.

Superintendent Steve Keifer said Thursday that it was a mistake to bring police into a case of school discipline.

“I think the situation was one where the parents and school officials were frustrated, and that’s why it was done,” Keifer said. “At the same time, it was probably not a good idea.”

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The mother said the girl urinated only because the principal frightened her. The mother said in Thursday’s Press Enterprise that the incident occurred last month, after the girl, classmates and teachers ate a holiday lunch at Danville Middle School.

The girl was told to go to the kitchen to wash some pots and pans, but refused, and wet her pants after teachers summoned the principal, the mother said. The newspaper withheld the names of the girl and her mother.

Police Chief Eric Gill had said school officials were at “wit’s end” with the girl, and that they believe her actions were deliberate.

District Attorney Robert Buehner spoke with Keifer and Gill on Thursday and decided to drop the disorderly conduct charge. Buehner said, “it makes better sense to just let the school district handle it with the child and parents.”