December 2023: SBF Incident and Crime Report Roundup

As 2023 comes to a close and the first half of the school year has wound down, several incidents involving school buses have made recent headlines, including:

• New York school bus driver indicted on kidnapping, rape charges.
• Boston Public Schools, bus company, employees sued in alleged rape and sexual assault case.
• Pennsylvania school bus aide charged in alleged choking incident.
• North Carolina school bus driver charged with DWI.
• Parent charged in alleged assault of Ohio school bus driver.
• North Carolina school bus driver accused of going off route, leaving students on bus.

New York School Bus Driver Indicted on Kidnapping, Rape Charges

A 50-year-old school bus driver in New York was indicted by a grand jury in early December on charges of kidnapping and raping a female student passenger. 

Giovanny Campos, 50, who also goes by Giovanny Guzman, allegedly sexually assaulted the student from Valley Stream repeatedly from January to July 2023. The incidents reportedly occurred both on his bus and at his apartment in Queens, according to Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly.

According to a press release from the district attorney's office, Campos was employed as a driver with the Cheese Bus Company, where he routinely drove students from Valley Stream Central High School to North High School. 

Campos was arrested on Sept. 28, 2023.

A grand jury indicted Campos on charges of second-degree kidnapping, third-degree rape, two counts of a third-degree criminal sex act, and reckless endangerment.

Campos pleaded not guilty; his bail was set at $150,000 cash, $300,000 bond, and $1.25 million partially secured bond. If convicted, Campos faces up to 25 years in prison.

Boston Public Schools, Bus Company, Employees Sued in Alleged Rape and Sexual Assault Case

A mother is suing Boston Public Schools, Transdev Services bus company, and two of its employees over the alleged rape and sexual assault of her daughter.

Boston.com reported that the then-9-year-old was assaulted repeatedly by a male student between Oct. 2022 and May 2023, according to the complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court on Dec. 15. 

According to the complaint, two of the victim's friends notified school officials after she confided in them. The male student allegedly threatened the girl with physical violence if she reported him.

The victim was in fourth grade at Match Community Day Charter Public School. The Match Foundation, the nonprofit that operates the school, also is named in the suit.

The Match Foundation president and CEO said in a statement that the school is committed to supporting students and families "whether incidents happen on or off campus."

Over seven months, incidents took place just a few feet from both the bus monitor and driver who "either knew or reasonably should have known" about the alleged assaults, according to the complaint.

The complaint also states that the student was forced to leave school a few months shy of finishing fourth grade for fear of physical or social repercussions.

While the bus was reportedly required to have video equipment onboard, there was no video found from the entire period of the alleged abuse despite a specific request for preservation of the video in May 2023.

A Boston Public Schools employee said all district buses have onboard cameras and that the footage is stored for a "reasonable period of time." The district reportedly found out about the incidents after the footage for the dates in question was no longer available.

The school district's department of transportation provided all information available to Match Charter School, which is "legally responsible for investigating all incidents of impropriety regarding their students.”

According to Morgan & Morgan, an ongoing investigation of Transdev revealed another students was allegedly assaulted on the school bus on her way home from school over an entire school year.

Pennsylvania School Bus Aide Charged in Alleged Choking Incident

A school bus aide employed by North Penn (Pennsylvania) School District faces assault charges for reportedly choking a 6-year-old student on a school bus on Oct. 16.

WPVI reported that the district attorney announced the assault charges against 72-year-old MacArthur Wilson on Dec. 7. Investigators said the boy's parents reported the incident after the child ran off the bus visibly upset and with marks on his neck. The boy told his parents the school bus aide allegedly put his hands around his neck and choked him.

Police found the alleged incident was caught on surveillance video and was witnessed by the bus driver, who reported the incident the same day.

The incident happened after Wilson was asked to sit with the boy. He was seen on video struggling with the boy's seatbelt, then putting his hands around the child's neck for seven seconds before the bus driver yelled at him. The alleged assault happened about one minute from the boy's bus stop.

The school district released a statement saying that the parents and authorities were contacted immediately. The bus aide also was contacted that day and resigned immediately.

Wilson is charged with strangulation, attempted simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, and harassment, according to authorities.

He turned himself in to Montgomery Township Police and was arraigned on Dec. 5. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 9, 2024.

North Carolina School Bus Driver Charged with DWI

A Catawba County Schools (North Carolina) school bus driver was charged with driving while impaired after he was reportedly found to have a blood alcohol content nearly three times the legal limit while behind the wheel of his bus on Dec. 6.

According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, authorities received a careless and reckless driving complaint involving a school bus just before 4:30 p.m.

WCNC reported that troopers pulled over 54-year-old Nelson Gonzalez and administered a field sobriety test. As a result of the test, Gonzalez was charged him with DWI, commercial vehicle DWI, careless and reckless driving, as well as misdemeanor child abuse. 

The bus was being operated from Sherrills Ford Elementary School. No students were on the bus at the time of the arrest. However, because Gonzalez had students on the bus at the beginning of the route, he received 33 counts of msdemeanor child abuse, according to WHKY.

A week after the incident, a Catawba County Schools spokesperson told the Hickory Daily Record that Gonzalez, who was hired by the district on Nov. 23 as a 10-month custodian and bus driver, was terminated.

Gonzalez's blood alcohol content was .23, authorities said, citing a breathalyzer test administered to Gonzalez. 

Parent Charged in Alleged Assault of Ohio School Bus Driver

A 29-year-old woman is facing charges after she apparently attacked a Dayton (Ohio) Public Schools bus driver. Mar’Tia Franklin is charged with felonious assault in the alleged attack.

WKEF reported that the bus driver told a responding officer that Franklin accused her of leaving her kids at their bus stop; the driver claims they were not at the stop. Authorities said Franklin entered the school bus and physically assaulted the driver, who sustained "significant injuries." Other students were on the bus at the time.

Franklin was arrested on Dec. 21, two days after the alleged incident.

In her first court appearance, Franklin was granted a $50,000 cash/surety bond after her lawyer addressed the fact that she is a working mother of three.

North Carolina School Bus Driver Accused of Going Off Route, Leaving Students on Bus

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) school bus driver is facing multiple charges after authorities said he went off his school bus route, got off the bus, and left students in their seats with the engine running.

WBTV reported that court documents show Mark Sherwood Foster also left the door open while he left the bus. One of the students on the bus was apparently his own child. According to WBTV, documents don't indicate why he exited the bus or how long he was gone.

The incident went unreported by local media until mid-November. School leaders did not publicly disclose the incident nor the charges prior to WBTV's questions.

Foster faces nine counts of misdemeanor child abuse. The charges were issued Oct. 14. Foster is due in court on May 8, 2024, for a bench trial, the Charlotte Observer reported.