Girl, 13, Arrest for Touching Boys

Young girls are sometimes into unusual hobbies. Some ride ponies. Some collect stamps. Some volunteer in soup kitchens.

One girl, a 13-year-old, from Sutton Alaska, though, apparently likes boys - a little too much.

On January 9th, Palmer Police Det. Kelly Turner was called to Palmer Junior Middle School to investigate a sexual assault. Because all the involved parties are juveniles, few details have been made available, but this is what is known:

Two boys claimed that the girl in question touched them over their clothing on the school bus. In separate statements, they asserted that they told their assailant to stop repeatedly, but she refused to do so.

Turney ended up arresting the girl.

Police generally have wide discretion in a case like this. Turney said that the range of options includes a verbal warning and release to parental custody on one end of the spectrum, and arrest and incarceration on the other. According to police, the most severe action was warranted in this case.

Turney said that the case is not so simple as it seems. "You balance the public safety, the safety of the victims and then you take a look at those and you balance those with what's going to be the best decision to be made to reach those goals."

The girl was charged with two counts of second-degree harassment, one count of second-degree sexual assault for each victim, and attempted second-degree sexual assault. Officers decided these charges were appropriate after lengthy consideration.

Police issued a statement, saying that while they could not reveal any specifics of the evidence that they collected, the facts justified the most extreme measures available: incarcerating the girl.

Detective Turney says he is aware of what the public is saying about the arrest of a such a young girl. Needless to say, many members of the community are quite upset.

However, "If you have an instance where a behavior is occurring and another person, whether it be an adult or a juvenile, and that behavior is asked to cease and that behavior continues ... you have to follow through on that," Turney said.

To be truly fair, though, police have to ignore the gender of the suspect. Turney explained: "Reverse the genders and if a boy ... touches a girl inappropriately on the school bus, and the school district and the police don't take action, can you imagine the outcry there would be?"

Again, because of the age of the girl and the two boys involved, the details are not being released. The girl is being held in the Mat-Su Youth Facility, and, as of Wednesday, no bail has been set.