The parents of Sandra Peña, the 14-year-old who took her own life on October 14 after reporting bullying in their school, the Islandesas de Loreto de Sevilla, testified this morning before the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office.
The Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the alleged involvement of three minors in acts of bullying that the young girl’s mother brought to the attention of the center and, on the other hand, the actions and possible responsibilities of the management of the subsidized private center, which, according to the Andalusian government, did not activate the anti-bullying or self-harm protocol, mandatory in these situations. The family of the girl from Seville came with the firm intention of demanding from the public prosecutor a “strong and exemplary” sanction for the school where she studied, as her uncle Isaac Villar underlined to the media this morning.
The report from the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office will also be decisive for the Andalusian Government to decide the sanction to apply to the centre, as the Minister of Educational Development and Professional Training, Carmen Castillo, explained on Monday. The Council has launched a conciliation commission which includes a representation of the school and the Government so that the Irlandesas de Loreto assume responsibility and corrective measures to identify and prevent the occurrence of harassment situations such as those that surrounded Sandra. “It will be based on the facts that the Prosecutor’s Office deems proven when responsibilities are determined,” said Castillo, who stressed that these responsibilities could also be extended to participants in the harassment situation.
Next Monday the Prosecutor’s Office will collect the statements of Sandra’s three companions who committed the crime bullying about the girl. In addition to the young girl’s parents, Sandra’s director, counselor, head of studies and guardian also testified before the public prosecutor this morning.
In the first weeks following the girl’s suicide, the center tried to justify its actions in the face of the harassment situation brought to its attention by Sandra’s mother on September 3. They stated that when they went to activate the anti-bullying protocol on the school platform to inform the Inspectorate, it was the girl’s therapist who advised against it and that it was sufficient to separate the classrooms. The family, who took it for granted that the protocol had already been activated, categorically denies this version. In any case, the center never spoke to the three alleged abusers nor to their families, taking it for granted that i bullying The incident did not occur during school hours, as sources close to the school confirmed to this newspaper.
“The damage they have done to us, namely the loss of my granddaughter, will not be repaired in our lifetime, but our fight is to ensure that this does not happen again. The only way to prevent it from happening again is for this sanction to be strong and exemplary, so that no school will ever think of not taking care of a family when faced with a bullying situation,” Villar stressed.
The National Police has already delivered its report to the Prosecutor’s Office and the Juvenile Ombudsman has also spoken to Sandra’s family and the centre. “The family has always felt very supported by the Council and the Guarantor. We trust that they are up to the task and that they will impose the maximum sanction on the school for the mistakes made, which caused the worst of the consequences, that is, that my niece decided to take her own life”, insisted Sandra’s uncle.
The most serious sanction the school faces is the loss of the concert, other measures include the payment of a financial amount or the expulsion of people deemed responsible for the failure to apply the relevant protocols, according to the Minister of Educational Development.
