A group of Academy District 20 parents is calling for 4^th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen to initiate a criminal investigation into a newly-elected member of the district’s Board of Education.

The group, which calls itself Parents of Academy School District 20, submitted a petition asking Allen’s office to determine whether board member Derrick Wilburn should be held criminally liable for reading sexually explicit passages from several novels during a student-led school board candidate forum at Chinook Trail Middle School on Oct. 4.

When the candidates were asked a question concerning the banning of certain materials from school libraries, Wilburn reportedly said, ““I do not curse. I’m going to speak some words now that have not come from my lips in 30 years, and I apologize in advance, ladies and gentlemen, for what you’re about to hear. These are books currently available in District 20 school libraries. Please forgive me in advance.”

Wilburn then read passages from several novels, including “Push,” by Sapphire. The novel, which has been adapted into the motion picture “Precious,” is one of several materials at the center of a months-long debate between parents who want it and other materials removed from district libraries, and other parents who believe such decisions should be left to the school librarians.

In November, a group calling itself Take Back Our Schools submitted a petition to Allen’s office requesting a criminal investigation into several El Paso County schools and districts, claiming that school libraries offered several materials that fit the legal definition of pornography. After reviewing the petition ad the case law it cited, Allen’s office denied the request to investigate and warned against attempting to use the criminal justice system to settle political disagreements.

DA’s office spokeswoman Kate Singh said her office had not yet received the petition from Parents of Academy School District 20.

The petition claims that Wilburn was fully aware that young children were in the audience when he read the passages, and that the parents of children who were “traumatized” by the reading have not been allowed to speak publicly about it at subsequent school board meetings.

Six current or former D-20 parents, who were present at the forum, attached statements to the petition. One parent states that some of the children present at the forum were “as young as 8 years old.”

“There were small children sitting just a few feet away that were visibly distraught over what they were hearing,” the parent said in the statement. “No one stopped him even though several D-20 cabinet members were in attendance. Everyone was in utter shock.”

The petition, which asked that the witnesses not be named, concludes by stating, “That Mr. Wilburn is now in an elected position of authority over the education of children in our Community adds to the urgency and importance of this matter.”

Wilburn, who assumed office in late November, had not responded to a request for comment at press time.