To the Editor:

A terrible thing has happened in Perrysburg.

Two juveniles allegedly forced sexual acts on others without their consent. They have taken a plea agreement in court.

Now the school district is forced by the terms of the court agreement to allow the students in school. And, the district is allowing them to play football and, participate in other sports and extracurricular activities in the future.

Meanwhile, the survivors and their families are dealing with the aftermath of this trauma.

The fact that these two sexual predators may one day have a “clean” record does not negate or wipe out their crimes.

Shame on the community members who have argued “they weren’t found/adjudicated guilty.” That’s semantics.

Shame on the entitled parents who bought their predatory sons the best defense that money could buy. There may be no lasting consequences for these two boys.

Shame on the prosecutors, school district and superintendent for not putting the interests of the many above the interests of these two, resulting in them not only attending school with their victims but being allowed to participate in extracurriculars.

Shame on the school board and superintendent for not moving to address obvious deficiencies in the code of conduct.

Shame on the superintendent for shoddy communications practices which have given parents the impression, rightly or wrongly, that he doesn’t care about their concerns regarding student safety.

Shame on the police department for not investigating more widely and uncovering evidence of other reported criminal activity.

Shame, most of all, on the two boys whose actions precipitated this whole mess.

A terrible thing has happened in Perrysburg. What will be done to make sure it doesn’t happen again?

Sarah Metzger

Perrysburg