A teenager is being accused of numerous acts of heinous sexual assault on a 7-year-old while they both were passengers on a school bus for students with special needs in central Indiana.
Prosecutors allege that 15-year-old Landon Doty raped the younger student several times while other students were on the bus.
A juvenile probation officer said Doty’s conduct was the ‘worst he has seen during his 39-year career as a juvenile probation officer.’
The victim is nonverbal and suffers from “moderate to severe autism,” according to police.
Court documents said evidence of at least one incident was caught on video cameras on the bus. That footage is being reviewed by the Jennings County School Corporation.
Doty is hit with a slew of charges, including two counts of rape, two counts of attempted rape, child molestation, attempted child molestation, two counts of sexual battery, two counts of attempted sexual battery, criminal confinement, and public indecency.
Court documents said that Doty’s actions were “calculated” and that there was evidence that he stopped when he thought he might be caught and allegedly continued when he felt that he would not be caught.
He is being held at the Jennings County Jail and was given a surety bond of $250,000.
“The family is devastated. They want answers,” said Laura Swafford, an attorney for the victim’s family. “They have lots of questions still that remain unanswered, and they want to bring awareness to this so that this does not happen to another child, not only in Jennings County, but throughout the state.”
She went on to blame the school for not protecting the child.
“This nightmare tragedy should never have happened,” Swafford said. “How could both the bus driver and the additional bus monitor aide not notice anything? Like all parents in the community, the boy’s family believed the school would protect their young, vulnerable son. The family entrusted the school to protect their son by monitoring activity on the bus. The school system breached this trust and clearly failed in its responsibility.”
Doty allegedly made an admission after he was being taken into custody and was placed into a police vehicle.
“I’m basically screwed,” the suspect reportedly said.
A juvenile probation officer said Doty’s conduct was the “worst he has seen during his 39-year career as a juvenile probation officer.”
That officer recommended that he be tried as an adult.
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Author: Carlos Garcia
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