Girl attacked in Mariners Elementary bathroom

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT BEACH - An unsuspecting 6-year-old girl found herself trapped

by a transient man in a bathroom stall at Mariners Elementary School

Thursday morning.

The 34-year-old man, whose name police have not yet verified, was

arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment.

The girl escaped apparently unharmed, said Sgt. Steve Shulman of the

Newport Beach Police Department.

The first-grader entered the bathroom at about 8:15 a.m. while her

grandmother, who had walked her to school, waited outside.

When the girl did not come out, her grandmother went in after her,

Shulman said.

Inside, the grandmother found the man, with his back to the stall door

and her terrified granddaughter blocked in, Shulman said.

After a struggle, the man fled the bathroom into broad daylight and a

schoolyard filled with students, teachers and parents.

Three people’s quick responses to the attack helped capture the man.

Having heard the scuttle and a scream, one teacher, whose classroom is

next to the bathroom, ran to the school office to call 911, said Susan

Despenas, assistant superintendent of elementary education.

At the same time, a gym teacher who was setting up equipment on the

field saw the man and gave chase while calling police on his cell phone,

she said.

A parent, who had been heading across the field and saw the teacher

chasing the man, ran back to her car and followed the suspect in her car

as he fled the school grounds, Despenas said.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of the staff and the community,” she

said. “If it hadn’t been for their quick action, good judgment, things

could have gone differently, but they just did a beautiful job in terms

of implementing their security procedure and following through.”

The first-grade girl appeared to have been unharmed and district

officials addressed the rest of the school following the attack.

With five school psychologists in tow, Despenas went to the campus

where she spoke with the entire staff and teachers while district staff

and psychologists watched over the students at recess.

Teachers in turn spoke to their classes, keeping children calm while

informing them of the incident.

Psychologists went into each classroom throughout the day to discuss

what had happened and what should be done in such a situation, said

principal Pam Coughlin.

“The children are fine,” Despenas said. “They understand that adults

are there to protect them and care about them.”

Bathrooms will now all remain locked until 8 a.m. when one set of

bathrooms will be opened and monitored, Coughlin said.

“We also set up a buddy system so they will never go to the bathroom

alone,” she added.

The school also sent notices home to parents letting them know what

happened and the precautions that were being taken.