“I was outraged:" Father says seven-year-old son left battered, bloodied, bruised by bullies
AURORA, Colorado -- A lively seven-year old boy, Desmond Guilford is spunky sweet and independent. But his father says he is being bullied by a group of classmates at school, and was recently attacked on the playground.
“He said he plays by himself and he said kids would come by and push him on his back and stuff like that,” said Kevin Guilford, Desmond's father. “We do send the kids to school to be protected and get a great education and it didn't turn out that way this time."
Last week, Kevin Guilford says the group approached Desmond on the playground and gave him an ultimatum.
“You have three seconds to run or we're going to hurt you,” Kevin Guilford said.
“They like ran after me and said 'get him,'” said Desmond Guilford. “Then I ran and then I ran more faster. Then one of them like, tackled me."
Falling face first onto the concrete, he was left scratched, battered, bloodied and bruised.
“It’s starting to scab now and last night when he was sleeping he asked me to hold him because he can’t roll over and that's the worst one but the lip,” Kevin Guilford said.
Even worse, Kevin Guilford says his son suffered a concussion.
“I was crushed,” Kevin Guilford said.
Guilford said school officials initially told him Desmond just fell and bumped his head.
“I was outraged,” Guilford said.
When he pushed for answers, Guilford says the principal blew him off.
“It's the children you know? That's what's he's there for. That's what he's employed for,” Guilford said.
The Aurora School District issued a statement to KDVR, saying:
"Student safety is a top priority in Aurora Public Schools. We take this report seriously and are investigating fully. We can assure you that we will take appropriate disciplinary action, but due to privacy laws we cannot discuss specifics. Our goal is to provide a safe learning environment for all of our students."
Guilford said he feels enough isn't being done to school schoolyard bullies and protect the children from harm.
“The thing is this has to stop for other kids. I told my son, if we let this go and we just move you when what's going to happen when the next family goes there and sees the happy pictures on the wall and they feel comfortable sending their kid up to the school,” Guilford said.
Guilford said he is withdrawing his son from school Monday and finding a new school. He hopes this doesn’t happen to any other kids.