Bus Driver Assault Of Special Ed Student Leads To School Lawsuit

ROCKVILLE, MD — Montgomery County Public Schools is being sued for negligence after a bus driver sexually assaulted a special education student on a bus in 2018. The family of the girl says the district should have regularly reviewed camera footage of the bus.

District spokesperson Gboyinde Onijala declined to comment to Patch due to upcoming litigation.

The district purchased cameras from FXS and installed 14 cameras on each bus, as well as three interior cameras that live-streamed the footage with two-way communication, according to the lawsuit. Footage could be used to see cars that passed buses when they were supposed to stop, and watch students and bus drivers inside the bus.

One introductory note from FXS to MCPS said the cameras could be used to prevent sexual assault, according to court documents.

The suit says that Jane Doe — a 12-year-old girl with special needs — was assaulted by bus driver Etienne K. Kabongo three times, an investigation into the camera footage showed. It spanned from May 29, 2018, to July 31, 2018. Each time, the suit says, the bus attendant left the area of the bus — breaking school district rules which say attendants cannot help students past the curb — leaving Kabongo alone with students.

"Despite having the stated intended purpose of having interior video cameras to protect against sexual assault and inappropriate and illegal behavior, and despite the fact that the interior cameras captured abuse, no MCPS employees monitored the footage in real time or reviewed the recorded footage after the first incident, or, frankly, at any time," the lawsuit says.

The suit says footage was only reviewed by the police after they learned of the abuse. It says that MCPS's negligence directly caused Jane Doe " battery upon her person, severe emotional trauma and mental anguish, the effects of which continue to the present day."

The lawsuit lists earlier instances of assaults on students at MCPS, including the May 2018 sentencing of former bus driver Salvador Rodriguez for inappropriately touching female students on his bus.

Bethesda Beat reported that there was another lawsuit filed against MCPS last year because of Kabongo's assault, but it was dismissed in December. In January 2020, Kabongo pleaded guilty but "not criminally responsible" for the assault of three students, according to the Bethesda Beat.

A trial is scheduled for Kabongo on Aug. 24, 2021, where competency is expected to be determined.