Two bus employees fired, criminally charged with abusing special needs student
Two bus employees in Methuen are arrested on criminal charges after an investigation revealed they physically and verbally abused a special needs student on the bus. The two employees have since been fired.
Nancy Vasquez, 56, of Lawrence and Marlene Cruz, 38, of Lawrence were both arrested for their alleged role in the abuse, Methuen police said Thursday. Vasquez was charged with assault on a disabled person while Cruz was charged with permitting abuse of a disabled person.
Vasquez, working as a bus monitor, had physical contact with the child, and Cruz, working as the bus driver, failed to report the incident, according to Methuen police.
“Morning! Good to see you guys!” the staff said as they greeted Anthony Amero.
Anthony was all smiles and couldn’t wait to go to school at Nashoba Learning Group on Thursday morning. It’s a big change from just a few weeks ago when Anthony’s grandfather said he was acting differently, especially whenever the bus pulled up in the morning.
“One time he just stopped and he just put his head into my belly and he started crying,” said Robert Amero, Anthony’s grandfather. “What I didn’t know at the time was he was saying please don’t do this to me again.”
Anthony is nonverbal and autistic. But it didn’t take Robert long to catch on to what his grandson was trying to communicate. There was one morning in particular when Robert really took notice of Anthony’s behavior.
“He started doing this twitching thing like every time she moved, when I was putting him on the bus he would back off and put his hand up,” said Robert. “And what happened was I videotaped it, showed it to my son, and I never put him back on the bus again.”
Robert showed his son the video, and they immediately contacted Methuen Public Schools. Robert says the bus cameras revealed what had been happening on the ride to school.
“They said that they were pinching him slapping him, crushing his hands I guess there was verbal abuse too,” said Robert.
Robert says the video was then sent to police and the monitor and driver were arrested and arraigned on criminal charges. NRT Bus released a statement saying,
“We have no tolerance for this alleged behavior and both employees have been terminated. We are fully cooperating with local authorities as this matter is investigated.”
During the investigation, Robert drove Anthony to school—and he instantly noticed Anthony was back to himself.
“And we’re driving down the street, he grabs my hand off the steering wheel and puts my hand to his chest and just hugs it,” said Robert.
To help Anthony get used to his new bus driver and monitor, school staff are making that transition with him.
“They just took it upon themselves to come down and ride the bus with him, which I thought was wicked awesome,” said Robert.
The Methuen Public Schools superintendent sent a letter home to parents to inform them what happened. She doesn’t believe any other students were impacted by the alleged actions of the bus driver and monitor.
Vasquez was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Friday, Oct. 6.
Cruz was released on personal recognizance, with conditions that she does not contact the victim or their family, the victim’s school, Vazquez or the bus company. She is due back in court on Nov. 3 for a pre-trial conference.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
