Sexual Harassment Online: 7-Year-old Chicago Girl Sexually Assaulted Live During Online Class, COVID-19 Sees Rise in Cyber Bullying Cases
Chicago, October 19: A 7-year-old girl was seen being sexually assaulted on an online class. Police said the girl, a student Bronzeville Academy Charter School, was observed by a teacher performing a sexual act on a male offender live on an online learning application. According to a Chicago SunTimes report, the teacher was working in the school at the time, and the moment he noticed he reported the assault to principal and school CEO Alvin Boutte. Boutte mentioned that the administrators do not believe other students saw the assault.
A male suspect is being questioned by detectives. It’s unknown if any charges have been filed. The accused was denied bail, as he faced a felony charge of predatory criminal sexual assault following the encounter that was allegedly caught on video during a break in the girl’s online class Thursday afternoon. Working Women Complain of 'Online' Sexual Harassment During Lockdown, Say Experts.
The microphone was muted on the girl’s computer, but the camera was on as a handful of other students were logged in to the Google Meets session. The teacher immediately asked the other students to log off and called the girl’s name, telling her to turn off her camera, according to the prosectors. The teacher allegedly then saw Walls pick up the laptop and close it.
Walls was arrested and the following day, and during an interview with detectives, he allegedly admitted to what the teacher and students had seen on video.
Due to nationwide lockdown, most people are working from home and women professionals are struggling in managing work-life balance. The problems of cyber-bullying, getting unwarranted video call requests at odd hours online stalking have increased tremendously. Some of the other popular forms of online harassment have been women professionals made to feel guilty for fulfilling any home responsibility during working hours. Passing negative comments on women professionals if they get distracted by kids or by other family members during a video meeting.
