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JACKSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio – An Ohio family is fighting for justice after they say a kindergarten student was sexually assaulted as she rode on a school bus.
Attorney Laura Mills, of Canton, is representing the family of the kindergarten student, who they say was sexually assaulted in the fall of 2016 by a fifth grade student while on a Jackson Local School District bus.
“This fifth grade student had previous, serious issues on the bus. He was accused of throwing a lit match on the bus,” Mills told WJW. “So he was disciplined. He was suspended from the bus for a week. He was supposed to be placed in the front right seat alone.”
Mills said that didn’t happen and the boy ended up sitting next to a 5-year-old girl in the seat directly behind the bus driver.
“The driver is unable to see the seat right behind him,” Mills explained. “So then over a period of a couple weeks the kindergartner is subjected to sexual assaults. It is horrific. It is one of the most horrifying cases I have ever handled.”
The family has filed a federal lawsuit.
Jackson Township police did charge the 11-year-old with gross sexual imposition.
The police report stated video on the bus showed the sexual assaults.
“When I saw the video I didn’t sleep for days,” Mills said.
The 11-year-old boy and his family have since moved out of the district.
The Jackson Schools superintendent said he cannot discuss the case since a lawsuit is pending. He stressed student safety is the district’s top priority.
“The family wants to make sure their daughter gets any helps she needs,” Mills said. “And they also want to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.”