RICHARDSON -- Melvin Cook and Tamar Chavez are parents looking for justice.
"It’s just heartbreaking and still to this day bothers me as if it just happened," Chavez said.
For a what they describe as a bullying that went far beyond any playground game. Their daughter was in third grade at Richardson Terrace Elementary last school year and had some trouble with a group of boys.
"It started with them teasing her, making fun of her, 'you’re stupid; you’re ugly,'" said Chavez. "This was just going on and she would just be told separate yourself."
But they're now suing Richardson ISD for what they say happened to her at recess on the last day of school. The suit says the boys dragged her by her wrists and ankles to a park fence, where they restrained her and hit her with sticks. One of the boys allegedly threatened to rape her.
"This shouldn’t happen to anyone’s child," Cook said.
Chavez called the police, and submitted a report, but the boys were 9-years-old. Texas Juvenile Law states children can be charged at 10 and older. So the parents turned to the school. In a note sent days after the incident, the then principal of Terrace Elementary said the boys admitted to most of what happened, and while inappropriate, she didn’t find they intended to hurt the girl.
The boys were suspended at the start of this school year, but these parents want more, and hope the suit makes it happen.
"A suspension, or just, 'Hey, we’re going to handle it later on,' that’s not good enough for me," Cook said.
"The School District needs to be held accountable for the children who cannot be," Chavez said.
Richardson ISD tells News 8 that once it learned the full details about what happened it took immediate and appropriate action based on that information. The District still reviewing the lawsuit, but said a number of allegations in the complaint are not true. RISD insists its students safety remains its highest priority.