Bus driver and aide failed to stop sex attack onboard NJ school bus, lawsuit says

Parents of a student with autism say their teenage daughter was sexually assaulted by another student onboard a New Jersey school bus — while the driver and bus aide failed to intervene.

The alleged incident took place last October, when the non-verbal girl from Paterson, then 14 years old, was aboard a school bus headed to the Windsor Schools, a private institution in Pompton Lakes for students with learning challenges.

According to a lawsuit filed this month, while the bus driver and bus aide were present on the bus, a male student, who also has a disability, “aggressively forced his hands into [the victim’s] pants and groped” her. The lawsuit says the offending student then forced his private parts into the victim’s mouth while she “was paralyzed with fear.”

In an exclusive interview with the I-Team, parents of the teenage girl said the bus company, AKA School Transportation, failed to protect their daughter from an unfolding sexual attack that they say should have been obvious to any bus driver or bus aide, especially because they were operating a minibus, with fewer rows than a full-size school bus.

“There is no excuse. They hired her to keep a look out on the kids,” said the alleged victim’s mother.

Rosemarie Arnold, the attorney representing the alleged victim, said prosecutors were unable to charge the offending student with rape because his own disability made it impossible to establish criminal intent. But she said there were numerous opportunities for adults on the bus to prevent a minor from being sexually violated. The lawsuit says the forced sex act lasted for “several minutes.”

“You have a bus filled with students who are too young to consent to any sexual activity,” Arnold said. “Absolutely nothing was done to protect this child by anyone.”

Mara Bruno Segura, a manager for AKA School Transportation declined to answer questions about the incident, but she sent the I-Team a written statement denying wrongdoing, and pointing to an investigation by the NJ Division of Children and Families.

“As per the Division of Children and Families Institutional Abuse Unit report, ‘Neglect/Inadequate Supervision’ was not established towards our company, bus driver, and bus aide,” Segura told the I-Team. “Further the Passaic County Prosecutor’s office has cleared our bus driver and bus aide of any wrongdoing.”

Neither the Passaic County Prosecutor, nor the NJ Division of Children and Families would confirm or deny any criminal or administrative investigations.

In the lawsuit, parents of the alleged victim say the AKA bus driver previously told them she made written reports to her managers about the offending boy’s disruptive conduct and once called police when he became “physically violent with other students.”

“Nothing was being done. Reports were being written but nothing was being done,” the girl’s mother said.

The Paterson Board of Education and the Windsor Schools are also named as defendants in the lawsuit. According to the complaint, the alleged victim’s parents reported the boy’s bullying and abuse to administrators at the private school for learning challenges, but they say no action was taken.

Christopher Lynch and Camille Cerciello, who serve as Directors at the Windsor Schools, said transportation matters related to its students are the responsibility of the school district, which pays for the bus route and the bus contractor who operates it.

“While the incident is deeply unfortunate, neitherWindsor nor its staff were involved,” Lynch and Cerciello wrote to the I-Team.

A spokesperson for the Paterson Board of Education said the District does not comment on matters involving pending investigations or litigation.

Just days before the alleged sexual attack, Cameo Black, a former AKA bus driver who later ran and lost a bid to sit on the Paterson Board of Education, urged the Board to investigate the bus company. According to minutes of the Paterson school board meeting on October 2, 2024, Black said she feared employees on the bus fleet were unqualified to monitor students with special needs.

“I have quit, but I was working for AKA Bus Company. You need to look into that,” Black told Commissioners on the Board. “They’re paying [drivers] under the table for $200 a week or $40 a day. It needs to be investigated before someone’s kid gets hurt.”