Mother and grandmother of 10-year-old speak out after alleged assault by bus driver

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — KFOX14/CBS4 spoke exclusively with the mother and grandmother of a 10-year-old victim who was allegedly fondled by her school bus driver.

“This person that we know him for, I’ve known him for a few years because he was their bus driver last year so you know I trusted him,” the victim’s mother said.

According to the Socorro Independent School District directory, Rodolfo Laureano is listed as a part-time bus driver.

He was arrested last week and accused of having sexual contact with a 10-year-old child.

The incident report noted the incident occurred inside a school bus.

“It hurts a lot. Because I mean, I pray for my granddaughters every day and I pray for the bus driver to get them to and from school safely from home,” shared the victim’s grandmother.

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The arrest affidavit shows audio and video from surveillance video captured by Laureano on Sept. 17 while driving the bus. The 10-year-old girl was the only occupant of the bus and she was seated in the front row to the right of Laureano.

According to the documents, Laureano told the girl to give him some of what she was eating, which was a piece of gum, and she responded, “No.”

Laureano pushes the child towards him and he begins to touch her.

The child continues to tell her that she doesn’t have any gum.

Laureano then fondled the girl’s body parts, according to the arrest affidavit.

The young girl then moves away from him and returns to her place. The bus driver then continues on his way.

When the girl is dropped off, Laureano is seen on surveillance video placing both hands on her head excitedly.

The video shows Laureano looking directly at the surveillance camera and saying “What are you doing? What are you doing?”

“We have a lot of questions about transportation and why hasn’t the school done or said anything about it,” the victim’s mother said.

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The victim’s family also explained how Laureano treated the child with kindness and transported more than 30 students on his school bus daily.

“He covered them with candy. He even bought them. I know he bought them kites,” shared the victim’s grandmother.

The grandmother works at the school her granddaughter attends where the bus driver picks up students, but since the incident happened she said a new bus driver has been assigned to the route, including a bus monitor.

“I can see who’s on bus 337 now, it was a woman and it was a woman driving the bus… It was a woman and then on the other side there was a monitor, a woman .I’m like, oh now there’s a monitor, and I feel like it’s just for show,” the victim’s grandmother said.

The victim’s family says SISD has failed to keep accounts and has yet to make contact with her or inform other parents about the incident.

“I want people to be held accountable, justice to be served and the community to be aware of it. To know what happened, our parents must know,” said the victim’s grandmother.

Laureano was arrested on September 18 and released on $50,000 bail on September 27.