CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — An 18-year-old is accused of inappropriately touching a 6-year-old girl while the two were riding on a school bus in the Union-Scioto district.
The incident reportedly took place on Aug. 30, according to a report from the Ross County Sheriff’s Office.
The girl, a first-grader, told a bus driver that a “big kid” had touched her inappropriately. When interviewed by staff, the girl explained that the boy reportedly put his hands down her pants and refused to stop when she told him no, it reads in the report.
Surveillance video taken from the bus shows a teenage boy moving to the girl’s seat and touching her multiple times, according to the sheriff’s office.
The incident remains under investigation. No charges have been filed at this time.
Ross County Prosecutor Kay Ringhiser confirmed to 10TV her office is being updated on the investigation by the Ross County sheriff, but is not conducting a separate one at this time.
Superintendent Matthew Thornsberry issued the following statement on behalf of the Union-Scioto School district Friday:
"Our Union-Scioto leadership team understands and shares concerns about recent situations within our district. When we learned about the bus incident, we took immediate actions to address the situation and to make changes to routes to protect all involved students. Our ability to communicate with our school community is limited due to student privacy requirements and the ongoing law enforcement investigation. Keeping our students safe remains our firm priority, and we are taking this matter seriously. As we learn more about what may have occurred, we will thoroughly review our policies and processes to determine whether there are additional safety measures we can put in place. Thank you."
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