A family in Atlanta is speaking out after alleging that their 13-year-old child was sexually assaulted by another student aboard a co-ed school bus.
According to 11Alive, the family claims the 13-year-old was assaulted by another student while riding the co-ed bus.
Other Georgia School Bus Cases Raise Similar Concerns
While unrelated to the Atlanta family's allegation, other Georgia school districts have faced their own reports of sexual assault aboard buses in recent cases. In Elbert County, authorities said an 18-year-old student sexually assaulted two juvenile students on multiple occasions while riding Elbert County School Bus Route 45s, according to CBS Atlanta. Deputies arrested the student and filed charges that included cruelty to children, false imprisonment, aggravated child molestation, aggravated sodomy, and child molestation.
The Elbert County Sheriff's Office said investigators were notified by the school district of two incidents of possible misconduct, and officials said the victims' families had been informed, though the names of the suspect and the schools attended by those involved were not released. That investigation remains ongoing, per the outlet.
Sandy Springs Lawsuit Alleges Weeks of Abuse
In a separate case out of Sandy Springs, a lawsuit alleges a 14-year-old special needs student was sexually assaulted over a 17-day period in April 2019 by two other students on a small school bus, according to WSB-TV. The suit claims the assaults escalated to rape and that the bus driver ultimately notified the Fulton County School District.
The station reports that the victim's attorneys are seeking access to video and audio surveillance that was described to them by school officials during an internal investigation. The attorney also said the school system had removed bus monitors from special-needs buses at some point before the assaults, and later reinstated them. In response, the Fulton County School System said in a statement that the allegations in the complaint are extremely serious and concerning to the district, and that the matter should proceed through the legal process while investigations continue.
These cases underscore ongoing scrutiny of safety measures on Georgia school buses.
