Police Department, Human Services investigating school incident

On Dec. 3, the Ponca City Police Department was made aware of an incident at Garfield Elementary School where a 6-year-old child was alleged to have inappropriately touched a 5-year-old child.

An officer was assigned to investigate, and spoke to the school staff about the incident, and then spoke to the father of the 5-year-old child.

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services was also notified and is investigating. The Ponca City Police Department will assist OKDHS with the investigation, but Oklahoma State Law specifically precludes a child under 7 years of age from being charged with a criminal act (Oklahoma Statute Title 21, Chapter 3, subsection 152), so it will not be a criminal investigation.