HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WSVN)– A child was horrifically beaten on a school bus in Florida. Now someone who was expected to care for the student is accused of crossing the line.
A 10-year-old boy with autism was subject to what investigators call terror at the hands of a school bus aide.
“This child had no voice,” said Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister. “This goes against any grain of human decency.”
The Hillsborough County Sheriff said a report from the boy’s teachers in November led deputies to investigate what was happening on the school bus.
“They saw some bruising under his eye and in his ear, but more importantly, every day when it was time for the children to be released to go home and catch the school bus, they witnessed a complete change in his behavior,” said Chronister.
Investigators pulled security camera footage from the bus, and that’s when they saw 79-year-old bus aide Juanita Wright hitting the boy on more than a dozen occasions.
Wright could be seen grabbing him by his hair, hitting him with a backpack, and yanking on the seatbelt straps, restraining him.
And at times in the footage, the boy could even be heard crying out.
“You can see this is well above the line, you can see and witness the fear, I can feel the fear by watching the video, you can see her continue to strike him,” said Chronister. “This bus aide terrorized this child.”
The video then cut to the bus driver, who was identified as 62-year-old Tonya Rice-Constant.
“And the bus driver witnessed it, participated in the mocking and the ridiculing, and threatening of future violence, and never once, having all these opportunities, intervened to stop this,” Chronister.
According to the Sheriff, Rice-Constant said it was joking, playful behavior when questioned.
Hillsborough County School District officials said they were deeply disturbed by the behavior.
The district released the following statement.
“We train our transportation team members on safety, student care, and their responsibility to report concerns immediately. When anyone violates that trust, we take swift action and will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement as this matter moves forward.”
“The system only captures 30 days. I’m confident that this abuse carried on well before the 30 days,” said Chronister.
Both women are no longer working for the district.
The child’s parents said he is doing much better and his behavior has improved since he is no longer around the bus aide or driver.
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