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UPDATE: Trans Student Recants Story of Sexual Assault at Calif. High School

UPDATE: Trans Student Recants Story of Sexual Assault at Calif. High School

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A transgender student originally told police he was assaulted in a bathroom at his California high school.

True

A 15-year-year old transgender boy now says he was never sexually assaulted in a bathroom at a Northern California high school, according to the Associated Press.

The student had reported on Monday being attacked by three of his classmates at Hercules High School, a middle and high school in the Bay Area. It happens to be the same institution where transgender teen Jewlyes Gutierrez was bullied relentlessly last fall, eventually fighting back against her aggressors and being charged with battery. Gutierrez eventually entered into a restorative justice program, possibly sparing her a future conviction.

According to a report by San Francisco NBC affiliate KNTV, the latest victim said he was attacked as he tried to exit the boys' bathroom and encountered three cisgender (nontrans) students. The assailants reportedly assaulted the student both sexually and physically, resulting in the teen's transfer to a local hospital, where he was given a rape kit. But police followed up to investigate and, the AP reports, found no injuries.

Then, the student reportedly told police he'd made up the whole incident. No explantion was given for why.

The case had quickly gained attention in a state where rights for trans students has become a top issue. California Assembly member Tom Ammiano, author of the state's recently implemented trans student nondiscrimination law, had issued a response in support of the student. "I am always saddened to hear when a student has been subjected to violence," Ammiano said. "However, it's particularly outrageous that a student has been assaulted while trying to exercise his rights under the law I authored, and it's particularly troubling that this has happened at a school where another transgender student was subjected to ongoing harassment." Plus, police were actively investigating what happened as a crime, and Contra Costa School Board president Charles Ramsey had called a special meeting to address the assault, even proposing new security cameras at the school.

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