The Abington School District is reviewing security procedures after police charged a 25-year-old man with trying to rape a student who repeatedly let him into Abington Senior High School.
Read more U.S. says chemical maker Chemours to pay $450M to settle ‘forever chemicals’ case
Police charged Raeem Grange-Allen, of Philadelphia on Friday with attempted rape by force and attempted statutory sexual assault, among other charges. The student, a 14-year-old girl, told police she met Grange-Allen at the high school.
Grange-Allen initially identified himself as a student and began communicating with the girl through text messages and social media, according to a police affidavit.
Grange-Allen later asked the girl to let him into the school, “and requested she perform oral sex on him behind a stairwell,” according to the affidavit. The girl told police she “saw him or let him into the school approximately three to four times.”
In a message to families Tuesday, Abington Superintendent Jeffrey Fecher said the girl let Grange-Allen into the high school on two occasions in March, opening a back door during the school day.
“Video footage shows he was wearing a hoodie and was able to briefly blend in as a student while moving in the hallways,” Fecher said in a message to families Tuesday.
On March 27, Grange-Allen came to the girl’s home in Abington Township, where he held her down and attempted to penetrate her, according to the police affidavit. The girl screamed, and her mother caught Grange-Allen, according to the affidavit. The girl went to the police the next day.
Read more A new rooftop nightclub proposed for the Camden waterfront aims to be part of the city’s ‘evolution’
Fecher said there were “numerous unresolved questions about this man’s presence in the high school, as well as, where and when he initially encountered the victim.”
The district is “launching a third-party internal investigation” and reviewing security protocols, Fecher said. While exterior doors are locked throughout the school day, “building occupants always have the ability to open them from the inside for evacuation purposes, as required by law,” he said.
Fecher said the district would be working with the Montgomery County Department of School Safety “to determine whether additional security measures can be put in place.”
“We share in the concern and shock that this information causes, and we are committed to addressing it effectively,” Fecher said.
As of Wednesday, Grange-Allen was being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility on $250,000 cash bail.
Read more Where to watch Fourth of July fireworks in Philly, the suburbs, South Jersey, and the Shore