The DA candidate promises to investigate reports of sexual assault by CMS

Charlotte’s lawyer, who is seeking the dismissal of Mecklenburg County Attorney Spencer Mereweser at the May 17 primaries, said he would investigate cases of sexual violence reported in high schools in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools.

У video published on the website of his company Democrat Tim Emry said he disagreed with Merewezer’s decision last fall not to turn to the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation by the Bureau of Investigation of six reported rapes and other sexual assaults at Myers Park High School. Emry said he would seek an external hearing.

Aside from Merewezer, Emry is only another candidate in the election at the primaries from the Democratic Party to the district prosecutor on May 17. There are no Republicans on the ballot.

In the company’s news release on Wednesday, Emry cites a September 2021 WBTV article in which Merewezer refused to call for external inspection.

“To date, I have not learned anything, which leads me to believe that the SBI investigation is justified in this matter,” Merewezer said in a statement, according to WBTV. “If I find out more, I’ll make that decision if it’s appropriate.”

In a news release on Wednesday, Emry said that if elected, he would also “investigate whether” criminal activity “took place in the initial trial of these cases.”

Meriwether on Thursday referred the Observer to his statement last year. His office provided the Observer with a copy of this statement.

The statement also reads: “My own experience as a sexual violence prosecutor has taught me that information in such cases is dynamic and that a prosecutor can only damage the viability of a case through public, extrajudicial comments. Investigations and orders often gain new life under rule of evidence 404 (b). Accordingly, I will not comment further. “

Charges of sexual abuse

In November, CMS superintendent Ernest Winston said he planned to exclude the investigation into sexual abuse allegations from the hands of directors and add staff to the district’s central district office, Title IX, The Charlotte Observer reported at the time.

The relocations took several months intensive control CMS for handling past reports of sexual assault and harassment on campuses.

For the previous three months three CMS Administrators (two directors, one assistant director) were suspended following complaints about how they dealt with cases under Section IX, internal investigations were conducted.

Section IX is part federal education law which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex and requires schools to thoroughly investigate reports of harassment or sexual violence from students and staff.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board of Education voted 7-2 on Tuesday dismiss Winstonacts immediately.

Board members cited documents released by them as reasons why they fired Winston, who had worked for 2 and a half years. Concerns included Winston’s slow implementation of security measures in the area, decisions related to Section IX issues, and slow or slow implementation of key decisions, according to records from Winston’s personal file released on Tuesday.

Prior to Winston’s announcement in November, CMS focused its response to widespread criticism with assurances that schools are safe, district leaders are serious about the issue, and announcements that annual Section IX training will be expanded along with courses sex education and supplements a student-oriented task force on the issue of sexual abuse.

The footballer’s accusation

Problems at CMS campuses, as previously reported by the Observer, ranged from what Fr. the footballer was accused of sexual violence at school to play, wearing a bracelet on his ankle, to the investigation in Chapter IX, which concluded: a the student lied that she was touched and then punished for false reporting.

Winston’s update in November came less than a week later Investigator’s investigation showed how an attempt to fire a high school student who reported being attacked in the bathroom violated best practices – and potentially contradicted federal regulations aimed at protecting the rights of victims. For the first time the case at the Hawthorne Academy of Health Sciences was reported by WBTV.

As a result of media reports and customer complaints, well-known national lawyer Laura Dunn asked the federal government open an investigation in how the CMS responds to reports of sexual abuse, the Observer reported in November.

This story was originally published April 21, 2022 1:47 p.m.