5 boys charged in sex assault on bus

BY KATHLEEN McGRORY

kmcgrory@MiamiHerald.com

Five young boys, between 11 and 14 years old, have been arrested by Hollywood police on charges that they sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl on a Broward County school bus.

The assault took place on Sept. 12 at about 3:30 p.m., said Capt. Tony Rode, a spokesman for the department. The school bus was transporting a dozen students from the Lanier-James Education Center, a disciplinary school in Hallandale Beach, to a location in Davie, police said.

A surveillance camera was rolling throughout the trip. The other students on the bus were heckling the victim during the attack, police said.

As the bus traveled through Hollywood, two of the boys approached the victim and climbed on top of her. Police say they held her down and began rubbing up against her. She was the only girl on the bus.

When she began to scream, one of the boys covered her mouth. Later, three more boys joined in.

It went on for more than two minutes. The driver did not stop the bus, police said.

''The whole scenario is disturbing,'' said Rode, ``and not just because the victim was attacked. It is disturbing because of the venue that it happened in, and the ages of the offenders.''

He added: ``And the bus driver didn't even stop.''

The alleged attackers are being charged with lewd and lascivious molestation. The two boys who held the girl down are also being charged with false imprisonment, police said. They will all be tried as minors.

Their names were withheld because of their ages.

Broward schools officials today said the bus driver resigned from the district. They are considering implementing a policy to dictate how drivers should react to attacks on a bus.