Port Colborne man tries to grab a student from school yard

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A Port Colborne mother is upset over the handling of an assault at her daughter’s school last week. Police say a man trespassed on school property and grabbed a young girl her by the arm. The school board didn’t tell parents of the incident until 3 days later.

47-year-old John Farrell is charged with sexually assaulting a woman near Dewitt Carter public school, less than a week later he grabbed a young girl on school property. The school notified parents of the first incident almost immediately. It was not the same case for the second.

Linda Estey’s 7-year-old daughter was playing in the school yard when a man came on to the field and grabbed another girl nearby. A teacher managed to stop him and hold him until police arrived. Estey said she recieved no phone call and had to personally reach out to the school for an explanation.

The board says the family of the girl who was grabbed was spoken to that very day. However the school board didn’t issue a letter to other parents until the end of the week, a day after Niagara police issued a news release about Farrell’s arrest. The board says there was no longer a threat to students.

“It is important to mention that this person was arrested that day and was not in the community, so we were able to follow with our police protocol and release further information once heard from police.” Brett Sweeney, Niagara school board.

The incident happened at the back of the school, for the most part the schools field is surrounded by a chain link fence except for one opening. The school board says the opening is used as an emergency exit in case the school is evacuated but says it is looking at installing a gate following the attack.