A man walked in to a D.C. school building without authority Wednesday and inappropriately touched a student, D.C. Public Schools confirmed.
The man said he was looking for a student at Ketcham Elementary School in Southeast, and an aide claims to have recognized him and assigned an 11-year-old girl to escort him to a classroom, in violation of school policy.
"There was a adult male who entered the school," D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said on WTOP Thursday. "I believe he asked to speak to someone in the school and was given an escort, and during the course of that escort inappropriately touched a female student."
The victim immediately told a school official. Police were notified and the buliding was swept, but the culprit was not found.
The victim and all other students are safe.
To enter the school, visitors must ring a bell which also has a video camera. There's no word on whether the camera recorded the man.
School policy requires all visitors to check in with security upon arrival, sign in and present identification, said Melissa Salmanowitz, of DCPS. It's unclear if a security guard was at the entrance as required when the man arrived.
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D.C. police are investigating the incident and reviewing the school's security measures with DCPS.
Melissa Salamanowitz, spokesperson for DCPS, sent the following statement:
"DCPS is treating this matter very seriously. We are working with MPD and reviewing our security measures to ensure we have the best protocols in place to prevent further breach of our school buildings by unauthorized individuals."
Stay with News4 and NBCWashington.com for more details as they become available.
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