Teen, Landon Doty, was found guilty on all counts of raping a boy on a Jennings County, Indiana, school bus. Landon was 15 years old at the time he was accused of 11 felonies, including four counts of rape. His victim was a 7-year-old non-verbal autistic boy he sat next to on a special needs school bus.
Having driven a bus for 100 years or so, I can’t even imagine how awful the entire situation is for everyone involved.
This bus had a monitor.
WTHR’s article states that the bus driver first noticed the younger boy sitting on Landon’s lap and alerted the bus monitor. In C’ville, we didn’t have bus monitors… but it seems to me the bus driver shouldn’t have to alert the monitor of anything going on. The monitor should be… ummmm… monitoring.
This case involved incidents from February through mid-April, 2025… all under the watchful eye of the monitor.
Yes, I cut the driver some slack… they’re DRIVING, after all. The Jennings County School Corporation fired both the bus driver and the bus aide shortly after the incidents came to light, but are they they only ones at fault?
It seems like there were so many preventable failures.
Who is responsible for thinking it was a great idea for a non-verbal 7 year-old to be transported with a 15 year-old child with past behavior problems? It wasn’t the bus driver or aide, I can promise you that. A civil lawsuit by the victim’s family alleges negligence by the Jennings County School Corporation.
Now you know: School buses make up the largest mass transit system in the U.S., transporting 26 million students daily. Specifically painted “National School Bus Glossy Yellow” for visibility since 1939, these buses are designed to be 70 times safer than passenger cars. They use “compartmentalization” (padded, high-back seats) rather than seat belts for safety.
Everyone has an opinion, is outraged, and is questioning how a bus driver and school bus monitor of the North Vernon, Indiana, school district let the unthinkable happen.
“Video camera footage later downloaded from inside the bus shows that, on multiple occasions, the victim was sexually assaulted and raped, but neither the Corporation’s bus driver nor the extra bus monitor employee did anything to stop the assaults,” a lawyer for the boy’s family said in a statement.You can read an article with details here.
The question everyone wants answered: How could this happen?
I drove a bus for decades — and my parents owned and operated school buses too (Dad first for a short time, and then Mom for years and years) — starting in the 70s. I never had a monitor ride along and I had a rough group. Two of my past students did time for murder and others have died by various means that were a result of lifestyle choices. I had well-behaved students too… my crews over the years were simply a mix of community kids.
Where am I going with this? Well… as a bus driver, your job is to safely transport children to and from school — and that doesn’t just include driving. I know I had things go on behind my back… I still know the name of the kid that sat behind me and flipped boogers in my hair. Why, I could write a book entitled, “Shit kids do on a school bus that would terrify and disappoint parents.”
But how could something like this be missed?
Driving a bus with 60 kids (K-12) behind you can be complicated. Drivers in a hurry run your stop arm — my greatest fear was having a child hit by a car. Still, there’s a HUGE rearview mirror and as a bus driver, your eyes are constantly scanning. I would like to think I would’ve spotted this activity.
Everyone — including the attorneys for the victim — are making a big deal about a 15-year-old being seated with a 7-year-old. I did that ALL THE TIME. High school students were seated in the back 4 rows on both sides. If they were too rowdy or I thought they were about to do something not allowed, I’d pull them to the front seat. In that front seat would’ve been a little kid.
Punishment was often “front row for a week” for high schoolers that couldn’t behave. I was lucky to have several really good high school students over the years that kept an eye out for anything nefarious. There have been no reports on where the two boys were seated — just that they were seated together.
But the major difference is that my younger students were verbal… and so were the approximately 60 other student riders.
Unlike school bus drivers, monitors have one job.
While I trust my gut feeling that I would’ve noticed something like this — I can’t think of one single reason why the monitor wasn’t aware. Unlike my crew, who would tell on each other for every trivial thing, not one other student came forward in this instance? But again… what was the monitor doing that it was missed multiple times?
I have to mention this… newer school buses are built with seat backs that are higher than when I drove a bus. The new regulation was implemented for safety should there be an accident. It’s what happens when those without proper knowledge (non-bus drivers) make rules without first hand experience (been a bus driver). There’s not a bus driver on the planet that would’ve thought that was a great idea based upon injury statistics (wrecks vs other injuries caused inside a bus ratios).
The fact this happened is unthinkable. It’s sad and pathetic on so many levels. The school corp has been accused by many of also putting students on the special needs buses with behavioral problems. If it’s the case the accused was riding because of behavior problems, it’s going to get worse for Jennings County. You can’t mix the most vulnerable of children with troublemakers and expect a safe ride to or from school.
For years, (I don’t even know how many), I drove a school bus. That required getting up at the ass crack of dawn 5 mornings a week except for days when school was out. My schedule then has a lot to do with how I feel now about many things even though I stopped driving years ago.
Routines remain in your head after they are no longer routines.
I love snow! Part of the reason I love it is because back in my school bus days, it meant I could roll over and go back to sleep knowing school would either be delayed or closed.
Holidays? Same thing applies. The holidays that students were off from school I love. Those that didn’t rank for time off I could care less about. But one school bus routine I was thrilled to break…
Early mornings? I DESPISE them. I’m a night owl. For me, 8:00 AM is early so don’t ever call me before 9:00. This morning I had an early appointment that required me to have an alarm set for 7:00 AM.
Poor little Hugo is having surgery.
Hugo, the abandoned little feller, was abandoned at the vet this morning to be neutered. I drug in him the door and to the scales — he was 35.4 pounds this morning. We did fine until some big golden doodle lumbered over to smell his butt. Hugo flipped his shit.
I told the girls I wasn’t sure if he would bite and that I watch him closely at home around people he’s not with all the time. I don’t know what he’s been through and I know he is extremely fearful. I told them to muzzle him if need be… boot camp is coming after Christmas.
3:30 PM will be here soon…
I pick Hugo up at 3:30 PM. The vet tech said he should be feeling pretty normal by Friday. Three days of recovery for a young dog is typical, she said. I’ll let you know if she was truthful.
Now you know: An off-duty nurse saved a boy’s life by giving him CPR when his heart stopped after he was hit in the chest with a baseball bat during a Little League game. Seven years later that same boy saved the nurse’s life by giving her the Heimlich maneuver after she started choking in a restaurant.
Sometimes, you can find gems on Facebook. Not often, I’ll admit, but I saw a photo shared to the group “Crothersville History in Pictures” that I grabbed. It’s of Alice Rider (Jeff Rider’s mom — Jeff graduated with my favorite brother) and she graduated in 1943.
It’s a picture of a picture. 🙂
Jeff went on to say that his Grandfather Rogers (waaaaay before my time) drove the school bus for years. Of course, I wonder if that’s the only bus that Crothersville had. I also think about how cold it would’ve been in the winter, and that it wouldn’t hold many students. No flashing lights either that I can see.
Because I have some history with school buses and Photoshop…
I couldn’t help myself from “fixing” the above photo. Straightening it up and even colorizing it.
Now you know: In ancient Greece, men had to go to the gym completely naked. These spaces were exclusively for men, and exercising in the nude was meant to promote the appreciation of the male physique as a tribute to the gods.
It’s miserable hot… no doubt about that. The air is so close and the heat index is to be in the triple digits throughout the week. Louisville has “operation white flag” in effect… cooling centers open for homeless and those with health problems without A/C. Here, we’re under an excessive heat warning.
C’ville School has parents hot under the collar.
Facebook is lit up with parents upset that the school is too hot for their kids. I get it… it has to be harder to concentrate and learn when you’re roasting. School officials explain that they have HVAC people coming to (hopefully) repair the A/C today that services portions of the building — and it’s only certain classrooms that are hotter than others. They have some window units and several fans.
Thing is… I’m old enough to remember no A/C in school.
I remember sitting in class with the lights dimmed and shades pulled to keep out as much heat as possible. I don’t think we had A/C the entire time I was in high school. I also didn’t have A/C in the car I drove to school. My Momma drove a school bus for 24-years without A/C — starting in 1972. And I vividly remember driving a big yellow tin can myself without A/C for 24 years!!
Not once did I have a parent complain that the bus was too hot for their child — even when they were sweating on top of one another often in direct sunlight. I had a grand total of 2 pukers in 24 years (one had eaten hot dogs and pineapple… unforgettable) and I’m not even sure those were heat related. As the driver sitting right on top of the transmission, I could wring out my underwear when the route was over — but I lived through that too.
I wonder if any of these kids that can’t stand the heat in their classroom went to the Jackson County Fair.
The Fair is always in August and it’s always hot. Outside moving around is different than sitting in a classroom with fans, isn’t it? I’d bet $100 bucks none of the complainers are parents of FFA or 4H members. Those kids know what hot is.
Now you know: Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda, is the city with the highest cost of living in the world. The cost of living is 47.42% higher than New York City.
