12-Year-Old Girl Who Had Accused 3 White Classmates of Cutting Her Hair Admits of Lying

The girl, Amari Allen, had told CNN that three white boys at Immanuel Christian School in Springfield, Virginia, pinned her to a playground slide and cut several of her dreadlocks. (CNN)

A 12-year-old African-American girl who had accused her three white classmates of cutting her hair, admitting to lying, according to a statement released by the children’s school on Sept. 30.

The girl, Amari Allen tol  CNN that three white boys at Immanuel Christian School in Springfield, Virginia, pinned her to a playground slide on Sept. 23 and cut her hair.

The girl had accused the three boys of holding her hands behind her back, covering her mouth, cutting her hair and calling her “ugly” and “nappy.”

“They were saying that I don’t deserve to live, that I shouldn’t have been born,” Allen told CNN.

However, on Monday Stephen Danish, head of Immanuel Christian School, said in a statement the girl had made it up.

“We can now confirm that the student who accused three of her classmates of assault has acknowledged that the allegations were false,” Danish said.

Allen said the three boys are in her class and one of them had scissors.

In her interview with CNN, Allen’s grandmother, Cynthia Allen, said that she is devasted. However, on Monday, the family released an apology statement.

“To those young boys and their parents, we sincerely apologize for the pain and anxiety these allegations have caused,” the Allen family said.

“To the administrators and families of Immanuel Christian School, we are sorry for the damage this incident has done to trust within the school family and the undue scorn it has brought to the school.

“To the broader community, who rallied in such passionate support for our daughter, we apologize for betraying your trust.

“We understand there will be consequences, and we’re prepared to take responsibility for them,” the girl’s family said.

“We know that it will take time to heal, and we hope and pray that the boys, their families, the school, and the broader community will be able to forgive us in time.”

Allen’s aunt, Lakeisha Allen told CNN that her niece did have a verbal argument with the boys but she “embellished the story.”

The case grabbed media headlines and was reported widely and is under investigation by The Fairfax County Police Department. When the girl reported the cooked-up incident, Danish said, “We take seriously the emotional and physical well-being of all our students, and have a zero-tolerance policy for any kind of bullying or abuse.”

A WUSA9 report mentions that the girl didn’t tell her family about a classroom argument and that two days after the cooked-up bullying incident her grandmother had spotted her shortened hair. That’s when she first told the “embellished” story. She has now admitted cutting her own hair according to the report.