Lawsuit to be filed against school for sexual assaults on school bus
PLANTATION, Fla. (WSVN) -- The family of a young girl is filing a lawsuit against a prestigious Broward County school after allegations of several young girls were sexually assaulted on school buses.
The parents of a 13-year-old female student at American Heritage School, a well-known private school located at 12200 West Broward Blvd., are filing the suit after their daughter claimed two older high school boys sexually abused her as she rode the school bus.
"During last semester there were two high school boys that were sexually assaulting young middle school girls on the bus throughout the semester," said Jeffrey Herman, the alleged victim's attorney.
Harmon believes there are other victims; in the lawsuit, his client states that she witnessed her attackers physically and sexually assault other young girls on the same bus. The victim goes on to say that the boys pulled out their privates, grabbed other young girls' breasts and placed their hands inside the girls' pants and shirts on the bus.
Concerned parents blame the school for placing older, high school-aged students on the same bus as young, elementary school children. "As a parent, you trust that when you put your kids on a bus to go to school they're going to be safe, and what happened here is that this bus was traveling on a regular basis, and these kids were not safe," Harmon said.
The school bus company is owned and operated by a father and son duo and is also being held negligible, along with the school, in the suit. The family of the victim is suing for $5 million.
Police are releasing very little information regarding this case but continue to investigate the accusations and even say arrests are imminent. "We've been working with the school, the parents of the alleged victim and the possible suspect to come to some type of resolution to see if this actually did happen and what did happen," said Lt. Bill Bamford of the Davie Police Department.
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