Bus Chaperone Kept Working At School During Investigation Into Alleged Child Sexual Abuse
A school bus chaperone who was accused of allegedly sexually abusing a non-verbal child continued to work with students for months despite an ongoing police investigation into the allegations.
The chaperone, who has denied the allegations, remained employed by the bus company and was allowed to continue working on the school grounds during the investigation. The alleged victim's mother reported her daughter's experience to police six days after the incident, but it took several months for investigators to discover that the chaperone was still working with students.
The woman, who has been identified only as Beth*, said she was "in disbelief" when she heard that the chaperone was still working on the bus while the investigation was ongoing. She claimed that the school's administration did not take her daughter's allegations seriously and allowed her to resume traveling on the same bus with the accused.
During the investigation, Victoria police conducted interviews with the alleged victim using gestures, but the chaperone remained employed by the bus company until over eight months after the initial report was made.
It wasn't until a senior constable informed Beth that the chaperone had not been charged with any offenses and was presumed innocent under the law that she began to realize that the school's administration did not take her daughter's allegations seriously.
In response to the incident, Victoria's education department issued an apology letter to Beth*, stating that they failed to implement adequate risk mitigation strategies during the police investigation. The department also acknowledged that their own internal review had found that the school met child safe standards but failed to identify inadequacies in their responses.
The department has since implemented changes to its safeguarding policies and procedures, including increased resourcing for schools responding to sexual harm allegations and a dedicated team to advise principals on immediate next steps such as contact with police.
A school bus chaperone who was accused of allegedly sexually abusing a non-verbal child continued to work with students for months despite an ongoing police investigation into the allegations.
The chaperone, who has denied the allegations, remained employed by the bus company and was allowed to continue working on the school grounds during the investigation. The alleged victim's mother reported her daughter's experience to police six days after the incident, but it took several months for investigators to discover that the chaperone was still working with students.
The woman, who has been identified only as Beth*, said she was "in disbelief" when she heard that the chaperone was still working on the bus while the investigation was ongoing. She claimed that the school's administration did not take her daughter's allegations seriously and allowed her to resume traveling on the same bus with the accused.
During the investigation, Victoria police conducted interviews with the alleged victim using gestures, but the chaperone remained employed by the bus company until over eight months after the initial report was made.
It wasn't until a senior constable informed Beth that the chaperone had not been charged with any offenses and was presumed innocent under the law that she began to realize that the school's administration did not take her daughter's allegations seriously.
In response to the incident, Victoria's education department issued an apology letter to Beth*, stating that they failed to implement adequate risk mitigation strategies during the police investigation. The department also acknowledged that their own internal review had found that the school met child safe standards but failed to identify inadequacies in their responses.
The department has since implemented changes to its safeguarding policies and procedures, including increased resourcing for schools responding to sexual harm allegations and a dedicated team to advise principals on immediate next steps such as contact with police.
omg, can u believe this?? 
the bus chaperone just kept working w/ students while there was an active investigation into child abuse? like, what even is that?! 
it's literally the worst thing I've ever heard. and to make matters worse, the school didn't take the allegations seriously enough! 
they were more worried about having a bus on the road than making sure the kids were safe 
i'm so glad the education department is taking steps to fix this though, increased resourcing for schools responding to sexual harm allegations and all that sounds like a great move 
I just can't even... this is so sad 
. How could they not take Beth's daughter's allegations seriously? And the fact that she was still working with kids while under investigation is just mind-boggling 
.
. I just hope they got the help she needs to heal from what happened 
. We need more people like her to speak up and hold our schools accountable for keeping us safe 
.
this is like totally insane!!!! how can they let someone like that just keep working at the school while the cops are investigating?? I mean, i get it, they didn't charge her or anything, but cmon, prioritize the kids first!!! 
I don't think it's just a case of poor communication or mismanagement – it sounds like a complete lack of trust and faith in the reporting process. 
. We need transparency here! 
Like, what was the school thinking? I mean, I've seen some crazy things in my time online, but this takes the cake. And the fact that they didn't take the allegations seriously until after someone told them the chaperone hadn't been charged with anything? That's just wrong... like, so wrong.
... I mean, I get it that investigations take time but come on! Eight months is a long time for an alleged victim's mom to be dealing with this kind of stress and uncertainty. And the fact that the chaperone was still allowed to work with kids while the investigation was ongoing is just shocking 
.
. I'm glad the education department is finally doing something about it, but what could've been done to prevent this in the first place? 
i feel bad for that poor girl and her mom, it's just not fair that they had to go through all that drama. but you gotta give them props for speaking out and getting things changed 
hopefully this new policy will help prevent something like this from happening again 
schools should be taking these things so much more seriously 
. I'm glad there's some changes happening now though, like more resourcing for schools and a team to help with safeguarding. Fingers crossed it doesn't happen again