A 13-year-old Staten Island honors student who was sexually assaulted at her high school had insult added to devastating emotional injuries when officials kept the classmate suspected of the attack in school – and later put the pair in the same summer class, the girl’s outraged mom told The Post.
If that weren’t bad enough, the charges against the student arrested for molesting freshman Kelsey Balzafiore were dropped after the Staten Island District Attorney’s Office inexplicably failed to inform a judge it was ready to try the case – despite being warned to do so by her lawyers.
“I feel like I was treated like I did something wrong,” the petite Kelsey, now 16, told The Post. “I feel like I was being punished. I don’t want this to happen to other girls. This whole experience since the attack has been an absolute nightmare.”
A Staten Island civil jury likely will soon hear of her shocking treatment by school officials and DA Daniel Donovan’s office after Robert Swen allegedly attacked her at New Dorp HS.
Tomorrow, her lawyers will ask a judge to set a trial date for her negligence lawsuit against the city, the Department of Education and the NYPD’s school safety division.
“The system failed Kelsey. The insensitive way they treated her was truly, truly abominable,” said Justin Blitz, one of her lawyers.
Spokesmen for the city, Education Department and Staten Island DA declined to comment.
Swen adamantly denied t