Toronto mother frustrated with lack of action as daughter, 12, assaulted and threatened at school

A Toronto mother is searching for answers after claiming her 12-year-old daughter has been the victim of repeated assaults and threats by her school peers, including an incident in which a 15-year-old is expected to be charged.

When 12-year-old Khadijah Roy first started at North York’s Portage Trail Community School last year, she had hoped to find a few friends and fit in. It turned out to be much different.

She said it didn’t take long for some other kids to start ganging up and targeting her, leading to a fight. Her mother, Holly Roy, says Khadijah was beaten on the ground, an incident captured by phones and shared on social media.

“My daughter, who was 11 at the time, was assaulted at school at the end of last school year,” claimed Holly.

“She was physically assaulted by two of her peers. A male and a female. And recorded by fellow students and posted on social media.”

Khadijah’s little brother was also present at the time of the assault.

“I was worried, mostly for my little brother and his safety and I just felt a little humiliated because a lot of people were recording, and It was getting sent everywhere,” said Khadijah.

Toronto police, TDSB aware of alleged assaults

Holly reported the incident to Toronto police, but officers said that due to those involved being minors, there were no disciplinary actions.

She said the school didn’t do anything either, and when her daughter started classes in the fall, she was assaulted again.

“I’m not exactly sure what transpired, but she was assaulted again by a fellow peer, another peer, not the same one. This happened at school and happened twice in one day. I left it up to the school to mitigate that one,” explained Holly.

Once again, Holly says the school didn’t do anything. A few weeks later, Khadijah began to receive messages with warnings of more assaults. Off school grounds, Khadijah was threatened with gun violence.

Toronto police say a 15-year-old boy is expected to be charged for uttering threats in one of the incidents and are looking into the alleged assaults.

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“Investigators are aware of the alleged assaults that have been reported to the police and are taking the matters seriously.” read a statement from Toronto police.

“We have nothing more to add as the investigations are ongoing.”

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) told CityNews they are also aware of the matter and that it is currently under investigation by both the school board and the authorities.

“I wrote to the school, and I sent them a letter. I said, ‘We need to do something about these assaults before things escalate. With the work I do, I know these things; I know this route. Our schools are pretty violent right now,” the Toronto mother said.

There have been multiple assaults on or near school grounds over the last few weeks in Toronto.

A stabbing inside Scarborough’s Birchmount Park Collegiate critically injured a 17-year-old student this week, just two weeks after a shooting outside Woburn Collegiate Institute, another high school in the east end, left one student dead and injured another.

It’s also the second incident at Birchmount Park Collegiate this year after a 14-year-old student was stabbed outside the high school in April. The student was taken to the hospital by paramedics but was not seriously injured.

Khadijah said when she reports the incidents to the school, they only have her sit in the office.

“I haven’t gotten any help. They always told me that we’d just put you in the office for my safety. Or you can’t stay in the office for long, and you’ll have to go to class eventually. Seeing that I wasn’t getting any help was very upsetting.”

Meanwhile, Holly said she is not getting any answers from Toronto police or the TDSB.

“The school board is putting it on the police, and then the police are putting it on the schools,” said Holly. “I’m just going back and forth.”

“It’s hard. When someone hurts your child, and it’s not even the first time we’ve dealt with violence,” Holly added.

Marcell Wilson, Founder of the One-By-One Movement, which is working to decrease acts of violence, said they have been warning the cities of incidents.

“These are things that we’ve been warning the city, the public, and the politicians about, and to have it happen directly to a family that we serve hits home. The time for talk is over,” Wilson noted.

Khadijah hasn’t returned to school due to fear of retaliation and things worsening. She and her mom are waiting for additional assistance before deciding what to do next.