Lawsuit alleges 9-year-old Boston girl was repeatedly sexually assaulted on school bus
BOSTON - The family of a nine-year-old girl in Boston says she was sexually assaulted numerous times on a school bus.
The girl was allegedly assaulted by an 11-year-old student just a few feet from the bus monitor and the bus driver on the ride home from the Match Charter Public School in Hyde Park.
The nine-year-old girl's family is suing Match Charter Schools, the bus company Transdev Services, and Boston Public Schools, because they contract Transdev.
The lawsuit filed by Morgan & Morgan in Suffolk Superior Court alleges the assaults took place over seven months during the 2022-23 school year.
"There is a nine-year-old child in Boston who was raped repeatedly on her way home from school over an entire school year," attorneys Nina Bonelli and Alexander Zodikoff said in a statement.
The lawsuit says the girl told two friends about the assaults, who then alerted school staff.
When the family asked for security camera video from the bus company, they were told there wasn't any. Boston Public Schools says the report was made five months after the assaults, and the onboard camera footage had already been erased.
A spokesman for Boston Public Schools said Match Charter School is legally responsible for investigating all incidents regarding their students.
The family's attorneys said the nine-year-old girl suffered physical and mental harm and was forced to leave school before finishing fourth grade.