Preschooler called child molester

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - An accused child molester is only a child himself, a 4-year-old boy named in a lawsuit alleging he groped two prekindergarten classmates.

The lawsuit filed against the Albuquerque Public Schools district claims the boy sexually molested two 4-year-old girls. It also accuses the district of failing to notify the parents of one victim and leaving her in class with the very youthful offender.

The parents said the boy continued to molest their daughter when APS failed to act.

"They knew they had a child who was molesting other children," attorney Sam Bregman told KRQE news 13. "They removed the first victim from the classroom and left the same child who was molesting in the classroom."

Bregman is suing the district, the principal of Navajo Elementary School and a teacher.

According to the suit an APS police investigation December revealed the boy forced his hands down two little girl's pants and touched them sexually. It further alleged the district only removed one of the victims leaving the other in a hostile situation for months.

"My client's daughter was molested, and they should have taken precautionary steps to make sure that never took place and never happened," Bregman said. APS never notified the parents about what happened, he added.

However in court documents APS said the mother was a "parent volunteer" in class and that in December the teacher asked her to question her child about whether she "had been inappropriately touched." The child denied it and the mother did not ask the school about of the circumstances surrounding the allegations, according to APS

In April the mother reportedly heard from another parent that her daughter had been touched and reported it. The children were never in the same classroom after that, APS said.

APS attorneys said the parents of the boy have moved, and the child no longer attends school in the district, APS said.

An APS spokesperson said the district does not comment on pending litigation.