- The Washington Times - Thursday, December 12, 2013

A 6-year-old Colorado boy has won a reprieve from his sexual harassment label, after school officials decided his hand-kiss of a girl who was his classmate doesn’t merit the stiff penalty after all.

The boy, Hunter Yelton, was suspended from his school near Colorado Springs after he kissed a girl on the hand. His mother, Jennifer Saunders, admitted to KRDO that his son had a crush on the girl and had kissed her on the cheek on a previous occasion, but said the “sexual harassment” charge the school threw at him was crossing the line. The boy’s story went viral, and the school faced a slew of negative attention.

On Wednesday evening, Canon City Schools Superintendent Robin Gooldy changed Hunter’s offense from “sexual harassment” to “misconduct,” CNN reported.

The boy’s also been allowed to return to his school, the Lincoln School of Science & Technology, CNN said.

Mr. Gooldy said, after the decision to downgrade the boy’s offense: “Our main interest in this is having the behavior stop because the story is not just about the student that was disciplined. It is also about the student receiving the unwanted advances,” CNN reported.

• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.

Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

Please read our comment policy before commenting.

Click to Read More and View Comments

Click to Hide