TN - Girl raped on school bus

[Vegas Bride]

I find it very telling that on the day after the assault the preditor did not ride the school bus, this was before anything was reported to the school. This tells me that he knew he needed to not show his face because of what he had done.
They need to be interviewing every kid who's been on the same bus as him since second grade IMO, there is no way this is the first time he's attacked someone, I wonder if he's ever been in trouble and kicked off the bus before?
That poor girl, just being 14 is tough enough, she'll never be the same and kids are so mean they won't make things easy for her.

VB

 

[capps]

I doubt "many" kids are entertained with people getting raped.

I think many kids are afraid to get involved.Once your off that bus,you're on your own.Especially if it's a rough neighborhood,friends of friends will take care of you,if you stick up for the wrong person.Right or wrong,sometimes I think it's self preservation for some of these teens.

A very sad situation.

 

[Malini2001]

The school should not miss the opportunity to teach the students on that bus that they need to look out for their fellow human beings.

I can understand the kids maybe being afraid to get involved due to later attacks from the 18 yr old, but they can't look the other way and let people like the 18 yr old get away with this. I am sure everyone on the bus didn't know what was going on, but I'm sure the kids in the immediate vicinity knew.

I think the 18 yr old should be expelled.

 

[pixies]

I think the 18 yr old should be expelled.

Yeah, expelled all the way to prison for a good long time so he can get the full meaning of rape. Maybe there he will finally learn how it feels when you beg for mercy and none is shown. I am sure his little blonde self will be really popular in jail.

 

[capps]

The school should not miss the opportunity to teach the students on that bus that they need to look out for their fellow human beings.

I can understand the kids maybe being afraid to get involved due to later attacks from the 18 yr old, but they can't look the other way and let people like the 18 yr old get away with this. I am sure everyone on the bus didn't know what was going on, but I'm sure the kids in the immediate vicinity knew.

I think the 18 yr old should be expelled.

I does say at the link in the first post,that the 18yr. old is out on bail ($19,000),and is expelled.

 

[Anita Richman]

I don't know how to respond to this.

That poor girl.

I know. It's so shocking and heart breaking and sick.
I have been letting my fourth grader ride the bus home, two days a week, after school. There are 3rd-5th graders on that bus. I just don't think after reading this story that I'll be having her ride the bus period.

 

[Gabby]

I does say at the link in the first post,that the 18yr. old is out on bail ($19,000),and is expelled.

There is always the chance of retaliation... I'd not send my daughter back to that school or anywhere until this is taken care of. Homeschool her and don't let her go anywhere alone.

 

[hipmamajen]

Yeah, expelled all the way to prison...

I agree!

 

[philamena]

At one point in the 15-minute attack, Evans said, the victim even turned to another student on the bus filled with 60 kids and asked for help.

omgosh! :silenced: I am brought to tears.

 

[Blondieskatz]

Gosh, it seems like these kids need to be taught to help someone in their time of need. We see this with so many crimes, people just turn a deaf ear and are blind to what is going on.
If we don't stand up for each other who will stand up for us?

 

[kgeaux]

Nothing should PROVOKE a rape. Their relationship should have nothing to do with this. I don't care if the girl was sitting on his lap. She said "NO" and yelled for HELP. If it didn't end in rape then what would be a better scenario?

Kahskye isn't saying the victim provoked the rape, of course we all agree that nothing this young girl did or did not do would give the rapist ANY excuse at all.

She is saying "what made that young man decide to rape that day?"

I know this guy personally through my kids school. He himself is the biggest flirt with younger girls and has a horrible reputation. To be honest I was shocked to see he is now a bus driver.

Masissy, that is the scariest thing I've heard so far. Do you think there is any chance he heard her cries for help and chose to ignore them? Maybe he enjoyed the incident?

How does someone with a horrible reputation get to drive children around? Our school districts need to sit up and smell the coffee: too many teachers and employees are molesting/raping/harming the ones who've been put in their charge. It should be a federal law that all school employees submit to extensive background checks, and their fingerprints should be collected. Our kids deserve better than this nation is giving them.

Thank you! I'm glad someone understood me. We all agree this was totally unacceptable and should not have gone unnoticed on a bus. I'd just like to know more about this 18 yr old. Does he have a history of molesting/fondling girls which has led up to this?

You're welcome, sweetie! I thought it was so clear.

There is a little more info. in the Daily News Journal (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) Also at the bottom of the article there are comments from the locals.



Evans, who called the recording "shocking," said the video shows the victim getting on the bus bound for the St. Andrews Drive area and sitting in about the seventh row near the aisle.

"A few moments later, you see Mr. Stover approach the victim and forcibly push her over to the window, trapping her inside the seat," Evans said. "While the bus was still parked, Mr. Stover begins to sexually assault her, rubbing his hands across her body and in private areas.

Thank you, Jbean! This article says the attack began almost immediately after the young girl took her seat......He was PLANNING this attack.

And, sorry Mr. Bus Driver, but if she was only 7 seats back, it's difficult to believe you heard and noticed nothing. Plus, if I read correctly, the bus was still parked on the side of the road.

omgosh! :silenced: I am brought to tears.

Me, too. Poor little thing, begging for help and no one even TRIES. That is the saddest aspect: no one even tried to help her.

 

[Malini2001]

I does say at the link in the first post,that the 18yr. old is out on bail ($19,000),and is expelled.

I'm sorry I missed that. I was so livid that he was out on bail that I missed the next sentence saying he was expelled. Thank God. I bet this wasn't the 1st time he did something similar. I hope authorities have told him not to go near the victim or he will land back in jail.

I also mis-read the 2nd article, thinking it said she was seated 7 rows from the back instead of 7 rows from the front. I've revised my opinion of the bus driver. He should be fired. Maybe his vision was blocked, but if the video picked up some of her cries for help, he could have heard her, too IMO. I have been on buses with students and the uproar is deafening, but I could have heard someone screaming from 7 rows away. And I think I could have picked up the distress in the voice even if I couldn't understand the words.

And while I understand some of the students could have been afraid to speak up, I am still upset that not a single one did anything. Someone writing in on the 2nd link says that they have a saying "snitches get stitches." While we had thugs when I was in school, too, it wasn't so bad that people feared physical violence if they reported something. If things are this bad, the thugs are running the school. I don't know how they can change that, but the school can't do it alone. It will take a lot of parental involvement.

 

[philamena]

SNIP
Me, too. Poor little thing, begging for help and no one even TRIES. That is the saddest aspect: no one even tried to help her.

I keep thinking about when my kids were 14.
What if that had happened to them?
What if no one cared if they were raped?
We live in one sad world.

(I need to hear that this creep is punished to the fullest extent of the law. Maybe he'll be released into GP.)

 

[Paladin]

You know, I have to admit I'm a little ashamed because I'm a guy and I'm ignorant about rape. When I read that she was raped I was thinking to myself how did a girl on a school bus actually let a boy pull down her pants, and then pull down his pants and have intercourse with her.

I did not realize that penetration even with just fingers constituted this. It makes the thread more understandable to me.

Sorry...just sharing my late epiphany with you.

 

[philamena]

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=7930032&nav=menu374_2

Driver won't be charged

 

[raindrops300]

Did I miss something? Did she not tell her mom/parents immediately upon arriving home?
It sounds like nothing was even done until the bus driver had watched the video and taken it to school officials after she asked him to.
I would hope that my daughters would have told me if something like this had happened to them & I would have called the cops right away. She may have been embarrassed or scared.

 

[Filly]

If you notice, if said what provoked this, if anything. Why can't I ask about their relationship? I know when I was 13, I had a 17 yr old bf until my dad found out. What this 18 yr old did was wrong and yes, he should have stopped when she said "no". Can I not ask if they were friends?

kahskye, absolutely you can ask anything. Considering statistics show 21.6% of rapes are commited by a steady dating partner, and 16.5% are commited by a casual friend that's a relavant question. Using the word 'provoke" to me and this is my opinion leans towards assigning responsibility to the victim. What did she do to incite a rape? What happened that day to the dude that he was moved to rape a little girl? Aggressive need to control the victim is what it is. Too often a victim is blamed and people question what provoked the rapist. Was it the manner in which she dressed? Was it how she behaved? Did she put herself in a place she shouldn't have been? That age difference in that circumstance to me is a mute point. Another words when you were 13 and that boy was 17 would you have provoked something because of your age? No way. Perhaps until a person is on that receiving end we may ask questions. I don't ask questions. The girl said "NO". Irregardless if what else went on the kid said "NO". That guy got big issues.

 

[sherri79]

You know what? Relax. That's not what I meant.

i disagree with you atleast half the time if not more but would like to say i totally get what you posted. the words "let him" did not in any way imply it was the girls fault but simply implied the difficulty of him not only him removing her clothing but then his own and being able to have penetration in a small confined place. i also found it difficult to understand exactly how penetration could have taken place without him forcing her to lie on the seat and that would have been out of the view of the camera. i am so sorry that in expressing you misunderstanding of what the word "rape" meant in this case it was twisted to imply you are a pervert or something. you should not have been insulted in that way. not to mention the "how late' to me implies that you have committed such a crime and that is just twisted for some1 to imply simply based on what you posted.

 

[Cubby]

This is horrible. This man did this despite a security camera being on the bus? Holy carp! It sounds like not only is a security camera necessary, but possible two -3 aides on a bus. Very sad this is something to worry about in this day and age. Can't even get your kids to school safely on a bus.

I sure hope this 18 yr old is prosecuted to the fullest and TG he was expelled!

 

[Paladin]

i disagree with you atleast half the time if not more but would like to say i totally get what you posted. the words "let him" did not in any way imply it was the girls fault but simply implied the difficulty of him not only him removing her clothing but then his own and being able to have penetration in a small confined place. i also found it difficult to understand exactly how penetration could have taken place without him forcing her to lie on the seat and that would have been out of the view of the camera. i am so sorry that in expressing you misunderstanding of what the word "rape" meant in this case it was twisted to imply you are a pervert or something. you should not have been insulted in that way. not to mention the "how late' to me implies that you have committed such a crime and that is just twisted for some1 to imply simply based on what you posted.

Thanks for your understanding. Like you said, I just found it difficult to understand how that could take place, because when I think of the word rape I think of male parts and female parts, not fingers.

I was pretty horrified last night to think that someone could insinuate that so coldly.