NORTON -- Parents of a 19-year-old high school student held by Spanish authorities were still trying to communicate with their son and trying to negotiate Spain's legal system Tuesday following his arrest during a vacation trip abroad.

William McGrath, 19, a senior at Norton High School, was taken off a plane and arrested by Spanish law enforcement officials Saturday following the alleged rape of a 17-year-old female student from Norton who was also on the trip.

McGrath's father, Raymond, said officials have not yet specified the accusations against his son.

Ellen McGrath, the young man's mother, said she has not communicated with William since his arrest, but that the Spanish court has appointed a lawyer for his defense.

She said her husband was in the process of wiring funds to their son so he could call home. A State Department spokeswoman said the department is doing anything it would do for a U.S. citizen abroad on McGrath's behalf, but would not comment on the specifics of the case.

McGrath was one of about two dozen Norton High students who attended the non school-sponsored trip to Spain during school vacation.

The Norton students were part of a tour group that included students from other communities, School Superintendent Patricia Ansay said.

A spokeswoman for EF Tours, the trip's organizer, declined to comment on the group's itinerary or how many students were on the tour.

She said the company provides a tour leader who supervises logistics and that each tour includes one adult chaperone for every six students.

Leaders provided by the traveling group are responsible for students' behavior, she said.

Norton schools do not sponsor overseas trips, Ansay said.

Spain's legal system is unlike the U.S. system, although offenses are divided up into categories analogous to felonies and misdemeanors.

Felonies are considered crimes punishable by at least six years in prison. Trials are divided into two parts: investigation and hearing phases, both supervised by judges.

A defendant who is accused of a crime punishable by six years or more in jail can be granted bail pending trial. Ansay said all of the other Norton students on the trip, including the 17-year-old alleged victim, have since returned home.