YARMOUTH, MASS. (WHDH) - Police have filed charges against a developmentally disabled man who allegedly assaulted a 15-year-old girl in the bathroom of school on Cape Cod earlier this week, officials announced Friday.
Officers responding to Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School for a report of a 23-year-old man with special needs who had entered the building around 9 a.m. on Tuesday learned he had wandered away from his group home across the street, according to the Yarmouth Police Department.
Principal Paul Funk reportedly told police that an employee encountered the man on school grounds and took him inside after noticing he was bleeding from a cut on his hand.
While inside the building, the man ran away from the school nurse, prompting a search.
Police say the man then followed the victim into a bathroom, where he punched her several times in the face.
The girl yelled out and a fellow student and a staff member came into the bathroom and removed the man, according to police. She was not seriously hurt.
After reviewing surveillance video, interviewing numerous students and staff, and completing a written report, police say they determined that the incident warranted criminal charges.
The man, whose name has not been released, is charged with trespassing and assault and battery.
He will be called to Barnstable District Court at a later date.
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