A family is suing Boston's public school district and a bus company, alleging that their 9-year-old girl was repeatedly sexually assaulted by another child on a bus.
The lawsuit, filed against Boston Public Schools and transportation company Transdev Services, alleges that a student of the Match Charter Public School was repeatedly assaulted on the bus over the course of seven months during the last school year. Morgan & Morgan, the law firm representing the family, announced the lawsuit Friday.
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"This 9-year-old girl was raped repeatedly on her school bus on the way home from school by an 11-year-old boy who was her classmate," attorney Nina Bonelli said at a news conference.
According to the lawsuit, the assaults occurred "just a few feet from the bus monitor and bus driver."
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Bonelli and fellow attorney Alexander Zodikoff said in a statement shared by Morgan & Morgan that the lawsuit "alleges that it was the failure of Boston Public Schools and Transdev to follow their own policies that directly led to this young child's assault."
Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673, and Massachusetts provides this list of statewide and resources for sexual assault survivors.
The complaint says that, despite a Transdev requirement that video record the buses at all times, no footage existed.
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Asked about the lawsuit, a representative for Boston Public Schools said the district "took all the available and appropriate steps possible" after learning of the allegations.
"Boston Public Schools' top priority is the safety of our young people," district spokesperson Max Baker said in a statement Friday. "Our jurisdiction to take action is limited when it comes to students who do not attend a Boston Public School but still utilize BPS buses, and we were devastated to learn of this disturbing alleged incident five months after it occurred."
He also noted that the district's Department of Transportation gave all available information to the charter school the girl attended, "which is legally responsible for investigating all incidents of impropriety regarding their students."
Footage from Boston Public Schools' school bus security cameras is stored, but not permanently, according to the district, and when the allegations were brought to the district, recordings from the dates in question were no longer available.
Match Charter Public School, which has three campuses, functions as its own school district. It has 1,250 across its elementary, middle and high school campuses, according to its website.
