School Bus Aide Charged With Hitting Special Needs Student, Knocking Out Two Teeth
ST. CHARLES, Ill. (CBS) -- Some Kane County parents trusted school bus aide Jean Micklevitz with their young son – a boy with special needs – but on Thursday night, Micklevitz was charged with violating that trust.
Prosecutors in Kane County said Micklevitz dragged the student to his seat and hit him in the face three weeks ago – knocking out two teeth – after he refused to move when he was told he couldn't have a juice box on the bus.
Micklevitz, 63, is charged with aggravated battery of a child. She was arrested Wednesday and was released after posting 10% of her $30,000 bail.
Kane County prosecutors Micklevitz, a school bus aide for Burlington Central School District 301, was working on a bus for a special needs students on the morning of Oct. 2, when the boy asked for a juice box as he was getting on the bus.
Micklevitz told him food and drinks aren't allowed on the bus, and when he refused to move from the steps, she grabbed him and started dragging him to his seat, according to prosecutors. She then hit him several times in the face, knocking out two teeth.
Prosecutors said the boy is under age 13.
A source who saw the video told CBS 2's Marissa Parra that the bus driver could be seen watching as it all happened, before getting up to strap the child into his seat.
The school said both the boy's mother and someone on the bus reported the incident, and both Micklevitz and the bus driver were immediately suspended - - and later fired.
Following an investigation by the Kane County Sheriff's office, a judge issued an arrest warrant for Micklevitz on Wednesday. Deputies arrested her later that day, and she later posted bond.
The school district said the bus driver was hired just one month ago.
Micklevitz retired earlier this year from the Burlington Community Fire Protection District. She had served there 36 years, and retired at the rank of captain. She had been working as a substitute bus aide for over three years, the school district said.
"Anything that has gone on with Jean since then, we have nothing to do with that," the fire chief told CBS 2.
Micklevitz was due back in court at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 30.
If convicted, she faces up to 5 years in prison, and would have to register for 10 years as a violent offender against youth.
