A 65-year-old school bus monitor is facing criminal charges after Putnam County investigators say she assaulted a 12-year-old student aboard a moving Mahopac Central School District bus earlier this month. Magalie Speranza, who lives in Yorktown in Westchester County, was arrested following a review of onboard surveillance footage, and a judge issued an order of protection at her arraignment.
The Putnam County Sheriff's Office says the alleged assault happened on October 2, when Speranza is accused of causing minor injuries to the student while the bus was in motion and carrying three other children, according to Daily Voice. The outlet reports that Mahopac Central School District officials did not learn of the incident until October 6 and referred it to the Sheriff's Office on October 7, five elapsed calendar days after it allegedly occurred.
Once alerted, school officials moved quickly. They referred the matter to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office on October 7 and handed over bus video surveillance footage to investigators the same day, per the same account. Deputies arrested Speranza the following day, October 8, and the sheriff's office publicly announced the arrest on Thursday.
Charges Include Four Counts Tied to Each Child Aboard
Speranza was charged with third-degree assault, four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, and second-degree harassment. The report notes that three other children were aboard the bus during the alleged incident.
Third-degree assault under New York Penal Law § 120.00 is a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to 364 days in local jail, three years of probation, and fines as high as $1,000, according to the Tilem & Associates law firm. Endangering the welfare of a child, covered under Penal Law § 260.10, is also a Class A misdemeanor, applying when someone knowingly acts in a way likely to harm a child's physical, mental, or moral welfare, as explained by The Law Office of Matthew Galluzzo, PLLC.
Arraignment and Protective Order
Speranza was arraigned in Southeast Town Justice Court in Brewster, the local forum that handles criminal arraignments and misdemeanor proceedings arising in Putnam County, as identified by the Putnam County Sheriff's Office in a Facebook post. A judge issued an order of protection on behalf of the 12-year-old victim. Under New York law, orders of protection may restrict contact, and a court could hold someone who violates an order in contempt, according to Greco Neyland, PC.
The incident involved a Mahopac Central School District bus in Putnam County, and Speranza lives in Yorktown, in Westchester County.
Training and Oversight Standards for Bus Monitors
Bus monitors and attendants have a 10-hour basic safety course to complete within their first year on the job, according to Otsego Northern Catskills BOCES. Separately, background checks are part of screening for school personnel.
Those requirements sit against a backdrop of roughly 480,000 school buses nationwide carrying about 25 million children each school day, according to the American School Bus Council.
