Family intends to sue after non-verbal 7-year-old boy allegedly raped on school bus multiple times

JENNINGS COUNTY, Ind. — A law firm representing the victim and his family are speaking out after a 7-year-old boy was allegedly raped multiple times in April on a Jennings County School Corporation school bus by a 15-year-old male.

A tort claim filed by the law firm alleges that Jennings County School Corporation was grossly negligent and violated the child’s civil rights, and caused him permanent injuries.

Wagner Reese attorney Laura Swafford released a statement that said the student was, “helplessly left unmonitored by two school employees who were on the bus and charged with caring for his safety.” She claims that the school bus has video footage that shows the boy being sexually assaulted multiple times, but that no one did anything 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 is hoping that tragedy like this will be prevented in the future, and that schools will be held accountable for the safety and protection of students, particularly disabled children.

The North Vernon Police Department previously confirmed that the 15-year-old suspect is being held in a juvenile detention center. He has reportedly been charged with one count of rape.

Jennings County School Corporation said this in a 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.

While this incident must still be investigated and resolved through our criminal justice
system, we are taking steps to try to better ensure the safety of our students. As I have
previously reported to our parents and staff, those steps include:

• Adding adult supervisors to the special transportation bus in question who will actively monitor student behavior for the duration of each trip.
• Reducing the number of students on each special transportation bus.
• Seating students individually whenever possible on all special transportation buses.
• Grouping students with similar-aged peers when individual seating is not
• available.
• Requiring similar peer-aged seating on all general education bus routes.
• Using our recorded monitoring system to quickly identify and address inappropriate behavior if it occurs.

The safety and well-being of our students is paramount, and we will work with our
families to support their needs and address any concerns.

Given that this is active litigation, we do not plan to have any further comments at this
time.”

This is an active investigation. Information will be updated as it becomes available.

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