Cuomo: Binghamton School Incident Could Be “Criminal”

Governor Andrew Cuomo has raised the possibility there may have been criminal conduct in an incident involving the alleged search of four girls at a Binghamton school.

Cuomo has called on the state Education Department to investigate what happened to the 12-year-old black students at East Middle School on January 15.

The governor Thursday said "we need to know what happened." Speaking to reporters, Cuomo said he has asked the Board of Education to review the policies of the school district.

The governor wants to know "what does a school superintendent need to do to authorize a strip search."

Cuomo said he has asked the New York State Police to investigate "because it could also possibly be criminal."

The governor said: "You're asking school children, allegedly, to strip and that's not just education policy, that could be a criminal violation."

Cuomo said he wants to "know what happened" at the school on East Frederick Street.

A day earlier, the governor said the allegations are "disturbing and raise serious concerns of racial and gender bias."

In a written statement issued Wednesday afternoon, the Binghamton City School District said it "launched an internal investigation that found no evidence that a strip search was conducted by the school's staff."

Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com

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