Maryland school bus aide accused of assaulting nonverbal students
A school bus aide in Howard County is facing charges for allegedly assaulting two nonverbal students, according to police.
Allen William Rice Jr., 80, was charged with two counts of second-degree assault and one count of fourth-degree sex offense.
Rice was a bus aide for a non-public special education program known as the Linwood Center in Ellicott City, police said.
According to police, Rice struck a nonverbal 13-year-old and was suspended from his job while police reviewed the video from the bus.
During the investigation, police said they determined that Rice struck the girl, and hit and inappropriately touched a second nonverbal 13-year-old girl.
Rice was arrested Thursday and is currently in the booking process. Police said there are "no indications of other victims at this stage."
Anyone with more information is asked to contact police at 410-313-STOP or HCPDcrimetips@howardcountymd.gov.
Bus aide allegedly assaults student in Baltimore County
In March, a Baltimore County mother told WJZ that a school bus aide assaulted her 7th-grade son with autism at Cockeysville Middle School.
The mother told WJZ that the school bus aide put her hand around the student's neck and slammed him to the ground at Cockeysville Middle School.
"He said that his body went into shock when it was happening because he couldn't believe it was happening," said Christina, the student's mother.
Christina claims the school's assistant principal confirmed that after talking with other student witnesses, the alleged incident did happen.
A police report has been filed while the district conducts its own investigation.
"Yeah, absolutely I want charges filed because you don't put your hands on somebody's kid," Christina said. "I feel like they're lying to me, they're trying to cover up things. I need to know what's going on."
