LINN  —Osage County Prosecuting Attorney Amanda Grellner last week told the UD that she will not file charges against R-2 administrators stemming from a delayed report of alleged assault against a student in March.

“After reviewing hundreds of documents, as well as statements obtained during interviews by the Sheriff’s Office, there is insufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges at this time,” Grellner said. “An alleged felony assault had not been initially reported by school administrators as required by state law but that was rectified and the issue was turned over to juvenile authorities.”

The alleged assault reportedly took place on or about March 2 at Linn R-2 involving juvenile students of the district.

Osage County Sheriff Mike Bonham noted that deputies served a search warrant for communications on March 23, and he personally served an investigative subpoena for records to the district that evening at the monthly board meeting for communications and records regarding the incident.

“We are concerned about the safety of our children, and we want to make sure this is handled properly,” said Bonham at the time the documents were delivered to the school. “Not only do we have a statutory obligation, but it is our moral duty to investigate this situation.”

Once the investigation was turned over to Grellner, she reviewed hundreds of documents, including emails, texts, and statements from employees of the district.

“It took time to thoroughly examine all of the evidence,” said Grellner. “My job is to carefully determine whether allegations meet the statutory threshold for prosecution, and in this case, they did not.”

Schools are required to report such incidents under the Safe Schools Act, specifically, the principal of the district.