Alleged school strip searches of 4 girls, all 12, draw parents' outrage, prompt police investigation

Four students, all 12 years old, were allegedly strip-searched by officials at East Middle School in Binghamton, N.Y. (Google)

State police in New York will investigate accusations that four black girls, all 12 years old, were strip-searched as part of a drug search in a Binghamton middle school last month, reports said.

The parents of the four East Middle School students said the girls were told to remove their clothes in front of a school nurse and assistant principal on Jan. 15. The parents said they were not informed of the alleged incident.

One parent said her daughter was detained for more than an hour, according to a report. On Tuesday, more than 100 people demonstrated outside the school to pressure the local school district to look into the matter.

On Wednesday, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for the state Education Department and state police to investigate.

"Asking a child to remove her clothing — and then commenting on her body — is shaming, humiliating, traumatic sexual harassment," Cuomo said.

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“Given the severity of the allegations and the unrest they are causing in the community, state police will thoroughly investigate this incident, in consultation with local authorities,” acting state police Superintendent Keith M. Corlett said in a statement released Thursday.

The Binghamton City School District said last week that the girls were evaluated but not strip-searched.

"There has been a lot of misinformation being spread through social media from third parties," the district said in a statement Thursday.

The allegations have rallied community members, who attended a Jan. 22 school board meeting to demand answers and disciplinary action. The district hired a third-party firm to conduct a "full and objective assessment,” the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin reported.

“The children were instructed to remove their clothing, and felt ashamed, humiliated and traumatized by the experience," said a statement distributed at the board meeting by community group Progressive Leaders of Tomorrow.

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The president of a local NAACP chapter has demanded the school board remove the principal, assistant principal and nurse involved in the alleged searches.

"This is outrageous that these girls got strip-searched and nobody got suspended," Barreiro said Thursday before the district denied there was a strip search. "School rules say parents have to be informed before anything like this happens."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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