A King Middle School student on the way to school in Portland was attacked Thursday by a stranger, the second time this year threats to students at the school have required police involvement.
Principal Amy Marx told parents in a statement that a student was grabbed by the wrist by an unknown individual walking to school along Park Avenue.
“Once at school the student was supported by social workers/counselors,” Marx added “and police took a full report.”
Avery Yale Kamila, whose son and friends walked this same route, told The Maine Wire they have been “repeatedly harassed, threatened, solicited for sex and chased by unhoused individuals loitering on those streets.
“I now drive him to school each morning and pick him up every afternoon, but not all parents have that option,” Kamila added.
In a previous incident, reported in September, a man in Deering Oaks Park exposed himself to students.
Kamila is outraged that Maine’s largest city has become such a dangerous place.
“We need public policies that center the safety of children,” she stressed. “Forcing students from Bayside and Parkside to walk through a human trafficking corridor on their way to and from school is unacceptable.”
