Authorities: Driver abused three more students on special-education route

A longtime Montgomery County bus driver already accused of fondling a 12-year-old special-needs student was indicted by a grand jury this week in connection with the alleged abuse of three more students, including a child and two victims described in court papers as “vulnerable adults.”

The alleged sex assaults occurred since late May, suggesting investigators looking into the suspect’s past may be limited by how long interior bus surveillance videos are kept.

In early August, Montgomery prosecutors said investigators were continuing to look at video footage from buses driven by Etienne K. Kabongo, 62, a bus operator for Montgomery schools for more than a decade. He mainly drove special-education students.

School officials said Friday that all four victims were allegedly abused while on Kabongo’s bus routes over a recent, two-month stretch. Two of the victims were 12, one was 18, and the other was 20 at the time of the incidents, according to the indictment. Two of the victims were allegedly abused the same day...

...A new, 14-count indictment alleges Kabongo fondled and molested another victim, 20 years old, on the same day, resulting in three criminal charges: second-degree rape, third-degree sex offense and sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult.

Earlier, according to the indictment, Kabongo abused an 18-year-old victim July 9 and 10. He faces five counts in connection with that victim, including sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult.

The other victim, according to court papers, was 12 when the sexual abuse allegedly occurred May 29 and June 13.

“It’s what everybody feared — that there were more victims,” said Lyda Astrove, a longtime activist on special-education issues whose son attended one of the schools Kabongo served. “It’s a parent’s worst nightmare. How can you not be frightened and horrified and worried for all the children out there, and even our adult children?”...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/authorities-driver-abused-three-more-students-on-special-education-route/2018/08/31/d525c058-ad3b-11e8-a8d7-0f63ab8b1370_story.html?utm_term=.91e412d27f6a