03-04-2006, 09:54 PM
LEFT ON BUS
Bus driver, aide indicted in neglect of 5-year-old boy
Asbury Park Press on 03/4/06
BY JOSEPH SAPIA
FREEHOLD BUREAU
FREEHOLD — A Monmouth County Grand Jury on Friday indicted a school bus driver and her aide for leaving a 5-year-old Marlboro boy on a bus unattended for about four hours on a hot summer day.
Bus driver Cynthia Pekarchik, 29, and attendant Judith Eckel, 47, both of Marlboro, have each been charged with one second degree count of endangering the welfare of a child.
The two, who have been suspended by the Marlboro school district, each face 10 years in prison. They are free on bail.
On Aug. 11, Justin Kauffman, a special-education student with an autism-like disorder, had been left on the bus during the school day, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.
The boy had been picked up that morning at his home, according to the Prosecutor's Office. Pekarchik and Eckel then dropped off students at the Marlboro Early Learning Center and returned the bus to the municipal yard, the Prosecutor's Office said.
The bus, with the child inside, was locked with its windows closed while the outside temperature rose to about 90 degrees, the Prosecutor's Office said.
The boy was discovered after Pekarchik and Eckel returned to the bus to take the children home, according to the Prosecutor's Office, and treated for dehydration.
"These defendants were entrusted to safely transport each child to school," said Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin. "By failing in their obligations to this student, both defendants caused physical harm to this young boy."
Bus driver, aide indicted in neglect of 5-year-old boy
Asbury Park Press on 03/4/06
BY JOSEPH SAPIA
FREEHOLD BUREAU
FREEHOLD — A Monmouth County Grand Jury on Friday indicted a school bus driver and her aide for leaving a 5-year-old Marlboro boy on a bus unattended for about four hours on a hot summer day.
Bus driver Cynthia Pekarchik, 29, and attendant Judith Eckel, 47, both of Marlboro, have each been charged with one second degree count of endangering the welfare of a child.
The two, who have been suspended by the Marlboro school district, each face 10 years in prison. They are free on bail.
On Aug. 11, Justin Kauffman, a special-education student with an autism-like disorder, had been left on the bus during the school day, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.
The boy had been picked up that morning at his home, according to the Prosecutor's Office. Pekarchik and Eckel then dropped off students at the Marlboro Early Learning Center and returned the bus to the municipal yard, the Prosecutor's Office said.
The bus, with the child inside, was locked with its windows closed while the outside temperature rose to about 90 degrees, the Prosecutor's Office said.
The boy was discovered after Pekarchik and Eckel returned to the bus to take the children home, according to the Prosecutor's Office, and treated for dehydration.
"These defendants were entrusted to safely transport each child to school," said Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin. "By failing in their obligations to this student, both defendants caused physical harm to this young boy."