School Bus Driver's Arrest For Allegedly Assaulting Black Children Isn't Enough, Mother Says
A Georgia mom isn’t settling for the lax punishment doled out to a school bus driver who reportedly assaulted her children earlier this month.
Nequania Carter believes the assault on her 6-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter was racially-motivated. The perpetrator, James O’Neil, was arrested on Friday (September 16) and charged with two counts of simple battery after reportedly pushing the two children, according to Atlanta Black Star. The charges aren’t enough for Carter.
“The charges are enough to say, ‘we did something, so now they can ease up on it,'” she told the publication. “No, it is not enough.”
Although Morgan County School District terminated O’Neil, Carter believed that a district employee, Alicia Lord, brushed her off when the frustrated mother brought her concerns to her. The grumpy and abusive bus driver had complaints prior to this incident. She’s demanding that she be fired.
Carter also blasted the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department for not taking the racism allegations seriously. She also mentioned that a KKK rally was held in the area in 2019. Authorities said while they aren’t ruling out racism, there was not sufficient evidence to support the claim.
“Investigators took additional time to investigate all the facts to include consulting with prosecutors in the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit,” Morgan County Chief Deputy Keith Howard said. “Investigators could not establish a nexus that the incident was racially motivated.”
On September 9, a now-viral video showed an irate O’Neil pushing the six-year-old brother. When his older sister stepped up to defend him, the bus driver threatened to confiscate her cell phone and told her to go back to her seat.
O’Neil could face up to one year in jail for the misdemeanor offenses. Employees of the district who commit crimes could be given harsher penalties. In this case, he could pay a $5,000 fine versus a $1,000 fine.
Carter is currently pushing for the man to face an additional charge of cruelty to children. She also removed the children from the school district and quit her job to drive the school bus in her kids' new school home.
A Georgia statute defined cruelty to children as, “A parent, guardian, or other person supervising the welfare of or having immediate charge or custody of a child under the age of 18 commits the offense of cruelty to children in the first degree when such person willfully deprives the child of necessary sustenance to the extent that the child's health or well-being is jeopardized.
- Any person commits the offense of cruelty to children in the first degree when such person maliciously causes a child under the age of 18 cruel or excessive physical or mental pain.
- Any person commits the offense of cruelty to children in the second degree when such person with criminal negligence causes a child under the age of 18 cruel or excessive physical or mental pain.”
