Well...they COULD have...

...treated the little perv with a pony ride and all the ice cream he could eat, BUT...

Boy, 9, cuffed over grope rap

A 9-year-old boy accused of groping a lunch lady at his Brooklyn school was hauled from class in handcuffs - sparking his father to lash out yesterday at cops' treatment of the third-grader.

"They didn't have to put him in handcuffs," said Rolando Syffrard Sr., 60. "He's not a criminal."

He said that officials at Public School 116 in Bushwick didn't call him until after the scared boy already had been taken to the 83rd Precinct stationhouse Wednesday.

"The school called the house and told us to pick him up at the police [station]," Syffrard said. "This is not the way they're supposed to do it. They're supposed to call me before taking him out of the school."
School officials said Rolando Syffrard Jr. was in the cafeteria Monday and tried to squeeze between the aide, who was emptying trash, and a garbage can. He allegedly touched the woman inappropriately, officials said.

The boy was put on in-house suspension, but school officials didn't call the police, because they didn't consider the incident a criminal matter.
Sources said the cafeteria worker who makes about $25,000 a year, called police two days later and said the boy rubbed his crotch against her and grabbed her butt.

But Syffrard said his son, who stands about 4 feet tall and weighs 95 pounds, accidentally groped the woman when he fell. "I believe my son," Syffrard said. "He slipped and fell on the lady."

The younger Syffrard was at the police station for just under an hour before he was released to his parents, cops said. Cops issued him a juvenile report, accusing him of forcible touching. Police said the case would be referred to Family Court.

Court officials said they weren't aware of the case, suggesting the boy hasn't been formally charged.

Police defended their use of handcuffs, saying the boy was belligerent.

"Even minors are handcuffed to assure the safety of both the police officer and the individual in custody," said NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne. "And the practice is well within guidelines."

Still, most parents arriving at the Knickerbocker Ave. school to pick up their kids yesterday called the restraints excessive. "Arresting him with handcuffs on is the real crime," said Delfina Ortiz, the mother of a first-grader."