A law firm representing the victim and his family has spoken out after a 7-year-old kid was allegedly raped many times in April on a Jennings County School Corporation school bus by a 15-year-old male.
The law firm filed a tort claim alleging that the Jennings County School Corporation was grossly negligent, violated the child’s civil rights, and caused permanent disabilities.
Laura Swafford, an attorney representing Wagner Reese, made a statement saying the student was “helplessly left unmonitored by two school employees who were on the bus and charged with caring for his safety.” She alleges that video footage from the school bus shows the youngster being sexually attacked many times, but no one intervened to stop it.
“This nightmare tragedy should never have happened. How could both the bus driver and the additional bus monitor aide not notice anything? Like all parents in the community, the boy’s family believed the school would protect their young, vulnerable son,” said Swafford.
“The family entrusted the school to protect their son by monitoring activity on the bus. The school system breached this trust and clearly failed in its responsibility.”
The victim’s family hopes that tragedies like this can be avoided in the future and that schools are held accountable for the safety and protection of pupils, particularly disabled youngsters.
The North Vernon Police Department has previously reported that the 15-year-old suspect is being housed in a juvenile detention facility. He is reportedly charged with one count of rape.
Jennings County School Corporation issued this statement on Tuesday, April 29:
“We are aware of the legal filing connected to very concerning incidents that allegedly occurred on one of our special transportation buses, and we will respond to this filing through the appropriate legal channels. We cannot go into any detail about this situation because we are cooperating with an active police investigation and additionally are involved in this litigation. I want to emphasize, though, that these reports involving students’ safety have been heartbreaking and devastating to all of us. Nothing is more important than the safety of our students.”
