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READ MORE: Are you wondering “Can I sue for being sexually abused at school?” Continue reading below for lawyer commentary from Aaron Blank.
Former Montgomery County Public Schools bus driver Etienne K. Kabongo plans to plead criminal insanity after pleading guilty to sexually abusing four vulnerable students earlier this month. The 64-year-old will face another trial in March to determine if his mental illness claim is valid.
All four victims were passengers on his school bus and three of them were nonverbal. Two of the victims were abused on at least two separate occasions, according to Kobongo’s plea hearing.
One of the victims was 12 years old at the time of the abuse and travels in a seat harness. Another victim was 18 years old and suffers from a rare disorder that impairs intellectual and muscular development.
In several incidents, Kobongo waiting until his aide left the bus to assist embarking students and then went to the victims’ seats, where he abused them. In at least two of the incidents, other students were on the bus, according to prosecutors.
If Kabongo’s insanity defense is approved, he would most likely be sent to maximum-security facility Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Maryland. IF denied, he faces up to 40 years in state prison.
The Montgomery County Public Schools system has outfitted all 1,378 of their buses with four interior cameras each as a response to parent outrage regarding this case.
There were video recordings for evidence in this case. Investigators looked at video from Kabongo’s buses in August of 2018 and found incidents of abuse as far back as May 29, 2018. According to court documents, at least three of the victims suffer from limited communication abilities and their abuse was only discovered because of this video evidence. Some are concerned that there could be other victims that have not come forward due to similar limitations because the video recordings do not go back far enough.
The bus cameras currently maintain videos for 20 to 30 days before the tapes are recorded over. Some parents have demanded that the district preserves video for longer because this may not be enough time to realize a child has been abused.
Attorney contributor Aaron Blank represents sex abuse victims and their families in civil lawsuits against negligent third parties, including schools that have failed to protect their students from sexual predators. Here are some thoughts from Aaron on the legal rights of school bus driver sex abuse victims and their families:
Student safety must be a top priority for all school districts. Sadly, sexual predators are sometimes found working in schools. These predators exploit their positions of trust in order to commit heinous crimes against students. When a student is sexually abused by a school employee, it’s important to both prosecute the employee and to investigate the school for possible negligence.
Some school sex abuse cases only happen because of negligence by the school district. For example, a school district could be considered negligent for failing to have adequate safeguards in place for preventing sexual abuse of students by employees. In cases of negligence, the victims and their families may have the right to file a lawsuit against the school district.
If you or a loved one has been sexually abused by a school employee, you can learn more about your legal rights by contacting our experienced sex abuse victims lawyers for a free consultation.
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