04/21/08 - Initial BBT Report)

Eugene Hargrove, 36, a driver for Durham Bus Services which transports student for the St. Louis Public Schools in St. Louis, Missouri has been charged with child kidnapping, third degree assault and third degree sexual misconduct.

It is alleged that on April 11 that Hargrove blocked a 13-year-old female student preventing her exit from a school bus.

It is further alledged that Hargrove asked the girl to engage in sexual activity and groped her buttocks.

Following his arrest Hargrove was released on $50,000 bond.

References:

Teacher, bus driver face sex charges (04/21/08)

Rodolfo Hernandez, 52, a school bus driver who transported children to Little Lamb Preschool in Mariners Harbor, Staten Island, New York has been arrested on allegations of sexually abusing a 3-year-old student.

Hernandez has been charged with criminal sexual contact, criminal sexual act on a child, and endangering the welfare of a child on allegations that Hernandez performed oral sex upon the child while the two were alone on his bus approximately a year ago.

Investigators believe that Hernandez allegedly targeted the girl because she had a speech impediment and would have a hard time telling anyone about the crime.

Hernandez was arrested after an investigation capped when Hernandez recently agreed to a DNA swab and a match to the saliva found on the underpants was made Wednesday.

Bail for Hernandez has been set at $1 million.

References:

Bail set for 2 men accused of abusing Staten Island children (3/07/08)

Brooklyn Bus Driver Accused of Molesting 3-Year-Old Girl (3/07/08)

Bus driver accused of molesting 3-year-old (3/07/08)

Armond Davis, 30, a former school-bus driver transporting students for Columbus Academy and Gahanna Christian Academy in Columbus, Ohio has pleaded guilty to gross sexual imposition for sexual contact with a 16-year-old female student.

Davis worked for First Student Inc., a private company that transports students, drove students to the two private schools. He was arrested in April on allegations that he took the girl to his apartment in the evening and had sex with her.

Reportedly Davis was seen by the girl’s parents when he brought her home about 2:30 a.m. April 11.

Although the girl was of the age of consent for sexual activity, any sexual activity between Davis and the girl would be illegal during the time he was in a position of authority over the girl.

Davis pleaded guilty to gross sexual imposition rather than go to trial on the more serious charge of sexual battery.

Sentencing is set for February 20th.

Reference:

Man pleads guilty after sex with girl (12/28/07)

Background:

School-bus driver faces sex charge involving student, 16 (4/12/07)

(10/30/07 - Initial BBT Report)

Scott M. Bender, a bus driver for the Peninsula School District, in Gig Harbor, Washington has been arrested after allegedly fondling and molesting a four-year-old girl on his bus.

Bender was arrested Monday on two counts of first-degree child molestation and was being held in the Pierce County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

The alleged sexual abuse is said to have occurred on October 9th and came to the attention of authorities when the child told her mother of being touch improperly and the girl’s mother contacted a teacher at the school.

Police say that although Bender initially denied all allegations he eventually admitted to exposing himself to the child.

Reference:

School bus driver accused of molesting young girl (10/30/07)

David Andrew Gerlach, 49, of Brownsdale, Minnesota a bus driver and bus manager for the Hayfield School District, in Hayfield, Minnesota has been charged with molesting boys.

Gerlach, whom many in his hometown refer to as “well thought of” and a “contributing member of the community”, is facing sexual abuse charges in two counties alleging the sexual abuse of boys.

Gerlach is charged in Dodge County with felony third-degree criminal sexual conduct and third-degree attempted sexual conduct involving a boy who was at least 16-years-old at the time of the alleged offenses. The boy’s mother discovered text messages allegedly sent by Gerlach to her son’s cell phone, informed police and police pretending to be the boy sent a text message from his cell phone to Gerlach setting up a meeting at Hayfield High School, where Gerlach was arrested.

He is charged in Mower County with 12 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of first-degree burglary. It is alleged that Gerlach committed incidents of sexual abuse between 1993 and 2001 in Brownsdale, involving a boy who was 8 when the misconduct began with the alleged abuse occurring on a bus, at a bus garage, at the school in Brownsdale and at the boy’s home.

Gerlach is out on bail from both counties, appeared in courts of both counties this week and likely faces trial first on the more serious charges in Mower County.

References:

Charges against bus driver bring shock, silence (8/11/07)

Gerlach’s first Mower County hearing postponed (8/10/07)

Gerlach appears in court (8/09/07)

School Bus Driver Faces Sex Assault Charges (7/26/07)