PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Three students with disabilities, between the ages of 8 and 9, were sexually assaulted by a group of older students on a Philadelphia school bus, according to a lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed against school bus operator First Student, Inc., alleges that several older students harassed, ridiculed and abused the vulnerable, younger children on June 1 after the bus left Robert E. Lamberton Elementary School in West Philadelphia.
According to the suit, the older students forced the younger students to perform sex acts, and the bus driver did not intervene.
“When you have this kind of environment occurring on a bus, how is the company not responsible for fostering that environment?” said attorney A.J. Thomson, who sued First Student on behalf of one of the 9-year-old victims.
The suit claims the bus company failed to properly train its staff to address the situation correctly, and that there was no adult bus aide to monitor the children. Thomson says the 9-year-old boy has had nightmares and psychological distress since the incident.
“These are acts that no child should ever be a part of,” said Thompson. “And the psychological damage, long-term damage, from this is something that we still can’t calculate.”
The lawsuit says the boy has received medical and psychological treatment for mental anguish and emotional distress. The mother is seeking damages of more than $50,000.
First Student, Inc., is a Cincinnati-based bus company that transports students under a contract with the School District of Philadelphia. The bus company has not responded to a request for comment. The school district was not named in the lawsuit.
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