School Bus Driver Arrested in 10 yr old Case
Mamaroneck Village Police have arrested a school bus driver in a 10-year-old sex abuse case involving a minor from outside the District.
Jorge D. Hernandez, 49, of 429 Union Avenue was hired by the District May 14, 2007 and has been reassigned but has not been fired, according to Debbie Manetta, director of public information for the school district.
"He’s been reassigned until we’ve gained a complete understanding of the facts," she said.
Hernandez been prohibited from entering school property for any reason.
According to a press release issued Wednesday by the district, the victim was not a Mamaroneck student and the incident had nothing to do with Hernandez’s employment with the district. The alleged abuse took place from March of 1998 through 2001, which was prior to Hernandez’s hire date, Manetta said. The victim was younger than 11 years old, and Hernandez was charged with engaging in two or more acts of sexual conduct with her.
"In a situation like this, because of its connection to a minor, the district always makes every effort to act swiftly to ensure the safety and welfare of our children, which is our top priority," the district said in a statement.
Lt. James Gaffney said the school was notified of Hernandez’s arrest because of the nature of the charges and because police expected the news to be upsetting to parents.
"We’ve let them know that we always make every effort to ensure their children’s safety," Manetta said.
Hernandez is due in the Village of Mamaroneck Justice Court at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.
Statement from the MAMARONECK UNION-FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT:
Unfortunately, we have learned that one of our bus drivers for the District was arrested by the Village of Mamaroneck police for allegedly sexually abusing a minor more than 10 years ago (prior to his employment with the District). While law enforcement has informed us that the alleged incident just brought to our attention did not involve a Mamaroneck student and had nothing to do with this individual’s employment with the District, the District has reassigned him to home until further notice. He has also been prohibited from coming on to school property for any reason. In a situation like this, because of its connection to a minor, the District always makes every effort to act swiftly to ensure the safety and welfare of our children, which is our top priority.
As required by law, this employee underwent a thorough background and criminal check prior to being hired, and his record came out clean. We are awaiting further investigation so we may have a complete understanding of the facts surrounding this situation.
As a parent of two children who ride the Mamaroneck bus to a private school, I am concerned that the school district has still not informed its bus-riding families of this arrest. The school district informed parents within the schools; not its bus riders.
What a great press release by the district! Factually incorrect in that having ended in 2001 the alleged criminal conduct occurred within the last ten years , not more than ten years ago. And what’s really the point of minimizing the heinous conduct by referring (erroneously) to its dated nature? This is at least the fourth incident in the last few years of a school district emplyee’s being “reassigned to home” for inappropriate sexual conduct. In normal English, “reassigned to home” means “fully paid for doing nothing”. In the other cases this particular status continued for many months, if not longer. No actions were taken against supervisory personnel that knowingly allowed inexcusable behavior to continue for months. These are the sorts of events, and the District’s apparent inability to get a handle on them, that breed resentment and serious second thoughts about paying the egregious taxes that we all pay to send our kids to school here.