Two McMinnville middle school boys are in Yamhill County Juvenile Detention facing sex abuse charges after school officials said they inappropriately touched classmates.

The 12- and 13-year-old boys’ parents said students were part of a group of boys and girls at Patton Middle School who would spank each other’s backsides as part of a handshake or dance.

“We have this handshake we do and some of the people at Patton took it too seriously and they thought that it was meant in a sexual way. It’s not. We’re all friends,” said Grace, a student at the school.

Parents said the kids view the spanking behavior as a game, but the school considered the activity inappropriate dancing.

The McMinnville School District released a statement Monday that said school administrators and police “uncovered more serious activity” than spanking.

The parents said the school never contacted them about the incident. The two boys were arrested last Thursday on five counts of first-degree sex abuse.

“They wanted to make an example of these kids. They wanted to scare everybody. So, they thought taking them to juvey would scare these boys. It sure scared them, but they didn’t realize what charges these boys were going to be charged with,” said Tracie, a parent whose child attends the school.

McMinnville School Superintendent Maryalice Russell said the arrests were made because of alleged sex abuse and not because of the spanking.

The boys were releaseed from juvenile detention on Tuesday. They are expected to appear in court next month.

Two Boys Arrested, Accused Of 'Spanking'