Students Accused Of Sodomizing Deaf Boy On School Bus With Driver Present

Two students from Roswell, Ga., are facing charges of aggravated sodomy and aggravated molestation after a 10-year-old deaf boy reported that he was sexually assaulted on a school bus traveling from the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf, WSB-TV reports.

Evidence also reveals that the bus driver had knowledge of the attacks but did not contact authorities, Attorney Tommy Maddox told the station. Fulton County spokeswoman Samantha Evans told WSB-TV's Mike Petchenik that the driver has been removed from the system, but offered no other details.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the suspects, ages 16 and 14, are set to appear in court today and are being charged as adults.

“He was just violated in every way you can imagine," Maddox said of the alleged victim. The AJC also reports that forensic tests at a local hospital confirms the accusations.

The assaults reportedly continued for months, but the 10-year-old was initially too afraid to tell his mother.

The Roswell incident is one of several recent reports of extreme student-on-student violence on school buses. Back in January, a 13-year-old female student was beaten unconscious on a school bus by seven students between the ages of 12 and 15 in Ocala, Fla.

The victim was taken to a hospital where she was treated for severe bruising, a concussion, and muscle spasms.

Comments

[Rose Zelaya]

04:33 PM on 07/29/2012

Children are suffering from a hidden epidemic of child abuse and neglect. Every year 3.3 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States involving 6 million children; that’s because reports can include multiple children. The United States has the worst record in the industrialized nation – losing five children every day due to abuse-related deaths. 1

[Soror4512]

02:01 PM on 05/07/2012

The offending kids and their parents should be held responsible. As for the bus driver, it's hard to believe this oerson knew nothing about it. Surely some kid must have sought the driver's help for the victim.

[kinnycut]

09:51 PM on 05/07/2012

I do agree the bus driver in this case should have reacted to this situation and at least reported it if nothing else. As a bus operator myself, I can tell you it is difficult to notice everything happening on buses that are becoming more and more overcrowded. Most school buses average between 50 to 80 students depending on grade level and a lot goes on we never either see or recognize from our small mirror as being a problem. We do depend on the good students to inform us of things, but with bullies there is a fear factor that can keep them silent on occasions. If we suspect something, we can look at the video from our bus, but you must bare in mind that anything we find then is completely after the fact. Regardless of what people at your school system might tell you, the most dangerous time of your children's school day is at the bus stop or on their school bus. The reason why is because these are the only points of time where the children are either under no or very limited supervision. Bus drivers have to operate under assumption that what is going on behind them is likely not equal to the potential catastrophe in front of them if they are distracted into a driving error.

[daringsugar]

11:30 PM on 05/06/2012

Another sad story. Parents really need to talk to their children! If a child get abused like this, he should be able to immediately tell his parents. I tell my daughter on occasions, that if anyone touches her in areas she should not be touched, she knows the areas, we discuss it enough, she is to come to me immediately! May the law bring the hammer down rather sternly on the accused!

[Kim Haaff]

10:27 PM on 05/11/2012

That is great to encourage your child to talk openly and foster those communications. However, children still are often afraid to come forward for different reasons even when parents have repeatedly encouraged talking. Abuse is not something children want to tell anyone about, even when they have the "perfect" parents.

[candlesmp]

05:48 PM on 05/05/2012

OMG - what a horrendous story. I can't believe that the bus driver would turn a blind eye to something like that. Has he no morals? There is no excuse for him to not report what was happening.

I feel so sorry for that child. It's far too often that children get molested and don't say anything for fear of reprisal or not being believed. It's sad, but I'm glad he finally found the strength to tell his mother.

[Suzy 24]

04:14 PM on 05/06/2012

The bus driver should be charged with a crime if he knew about it and did nothing.

[see-ellen2001]

04:24 PM on 05/05/2012

I wonder. Was the child truly afraid to tell his mother or was communication impossible bcs his mother did not sign?

[karvictho]

12:10 PM on 05/06/2012

Is yours a real question?

[see-ellen2001]

03:46 PM on 05/06/2012

Somewhat rhetorical but I would be curious to know how effective communication is within the home.

[LHill76]

08:34 PM on 05/06/2012

I guess you don't know much about abuse victims.

[see-ellen2001]

09:05 PM on 05/06/2012

I do know a lot actually.

[Gun Fan]

12:41 PM on 05/05/2012

It scares me to think I brought two children into this world. At that age those boys should know right from wrong. If that is their behavior now, imagine when they are older ando stronger. Lck them up and throw away the key. Sex offenders cannot be rehabilitated. As for the bus driver, they should be charged as an accessory to the crime. We need to start at the top, where we can change the laws on how these sex offenders are punished. I'm more worried about them than Jim Bob who hasn't paid child support. Let's stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves.

[Molly D]

01:33 PM on 05/05/2012

You can usually tell who the deadly psychopaths are going to be, early.

[Fenrir Lokison]

01:57 PM on 05/05/2012

Not true.

[laaambchop]

07:26 AM on 05/05/2012

Was it just the three students on the bus? How could this have gone on for so long?

[Fenrir Lokison]

01:23 PM on 05/05/2012

1. The bus driver intentionally ignoring the situation.
2. Kids who thought they had the right to do such horrible things.
3. A victim who was to afraid and embarrassed to tell his mother or another adult.
4. Lack of cameras on the bus.

[ridor]

08:37 PM on 05/05/2012

Why do you think they lack the camera/video on school buses especially for disabled ones? Because the government often puts the disabled schools on the cutting block when it comes to trimming the budget.

R-

[Bills Catz]

01:20 AM on 05/05/2012

Some folks just need killing, simple as that. Already proven themselves to be morally bankrupt, no sense leaving them around to prove it again later...

[laaambchop]

06:01 AM on 05/05/2012

I'm not even going to post about how I would take care of this.

[Fenrir Lokison]

01:23 PM on 05/05/2012

This does not deserve murder or extreme justice. Justice, yes. But, death, no and it never will.

[Bills Catz]

02:49 PM on 05/05/2012

and your solution would be what?

[Gwendolyn Peev]

11:49 PM on 05/04/2012

This is a horrible story. I wish that poor baby had picked up a brick and knocked those bad little bastards upside the head.

[Jose Perez Hernandez]

11:10 PM on 05/04/2012

It sounds like this sexual abuse on a school bus for the deaf by the child's own surrounding Alpha Protectors. He had no voice in a silent world. It began as a mad impulse in a 'pack' with a predatory leader, continued with implied consent, then became a continuing norm in a safe non-verbal atmosphere of animal dominance and magnetism. The attackers defense will be that he was either raped by his male authority figure or that his family are God Fearing people who won't recognize events happening in their neighborhood as more than meaningless play. Rural Georgia, the Bible Belt..... the more repressed a culture, the more likely there would be silent eruptions of aberrant behavior. The bus driver's role is most mysterious, if he is not mildly retarded or related to the predators, his supervisor should be fired and he might be retrainable. Its hard to imagine a rowdy bus of deaf mutes. It is easier to imagine the back of a crowded bus to be out of range of a rear view mirror.

[Game Changer 88]

10:51 PM on 05/04/2012

That is very sick business, those two should be prosecuted as adults and sentenced to 30 years or more.

[fieryat41]

10:36 PM on 05/04/2012

These boys probably showed previous signs of their disturbing behavior only to have it brushed off (by adults) as boys will be boys. There are no valid excuses for the boys, or the bus driver.
The bus driver should be charged, because if you are not stopping the action, you are a party to it.

[Kimberly Owsley]

11:20 PM on 05/04/2012

I agree 100%. If the bus driver was merely fired then his employers should also be arrested for not turning him in to the police. He absolutely should be arrested. Who the heck has knowledge of a 10 year old boy being molested and does nothing to stop it? A pedophile, that's who. And all pedophiles need to be incarcerated.

[trixfoxx]

06:32 AM on 05/06/2012

I read that the bus driver was a woman.

[Bet42]

10:20 PM on 05/04/2012

The bus driver never see anything because they are scared to lose their little pay check and it is the same way with some teachers. They blame the victim.

[Lenape105]

11:52 PM on 05/04/2012

The driver should lose his/her paycheck, job, and a few years of freedom.

[Bet42]

01:36 AM on 05/05/2012

They should

[Bet42]

01:43 AM on 05/05/2012

I agree

[chasinglight]

09:57 PM on 05/04/2012

Jail that driver along with those degenerate teenagers! What creeps! Disgusting behavior on all levels!

[Ziggy111]

09:48 PM on 05/04/2012

This is completely sick! What has happened to our society that such bad things can happen now with more common frequency and yet some people can think to post smug comments? Certainly our world has greatly changed for the worse. I hope those boys & the bus driver receive very tough penalties for their crimes!