Student spit on 70-year-old bus attendant. His response was child abuse, VA cops say

A 70-year-old school bus attendant was spit on by a student, and the man’s response amounted to felony child abuse, according to the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office in Yorktown, Virginia.

The dispute happened on a York County bus as it was transporting elementary school students, officials said. York County is about 25 miles north of Norfolk.

“It was reported that a 7-year-old student spit on (the suspect),” the sheriff’s office said in a Dec. 7 news release.

“In turn he sprayed the student with a cleaning solution.”

The suspect, who lives in York County, was “employed as a bus assistant for the York County School Division” at the time. He is no longer working for the district, officials said.

Investigators did not say if the student was injured. The type of cleaning fluid used was not announced.

The suspect was arrested Dec. 6 and taken to the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail. He is charged with “three felony counts of malicious bodily injury by means of any caustic substance and one felony count of abuse and neglect of children,” officials said.

Helping to keep the bus clean is among the responsibilities of school bus attendants. They also assist drivers by controlling student behavior, help students with disabilities get in their seats, and tend to students’ needs “with patience and understanding,” according to Virginia Beach City Public Schools.

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