Bus drivers keep their jobs
EVART -- The Evart Public Schools bus driver who allowed a registered sex offender to ride a school bus with children onboard to and from school, will keep her job.
The school superintendent says the bus driver, Rhonda Hamilton, was suspended without pay for one week. 7&4 New has learned another bus driver, Rose Corbacho, let the sex offender, 23-year old Patrick Wilson, ride the bus she was driving that day as well. She did not receive any sort of punishment from the school district.
According to the police report, on Monday September 27th, Wilson and his teenage fiancé who is a student at Evart High School were waiting at the bus stop. When Rhonda Hamilton pulled up in the bus, Wilson asked her if he could ride with his fiancé to attend her meeting with teachers. The driver gave him permission. From the bus stop they were taken to the bus garage where they switched to a different bus driven by Rose Corbacho and taken to Evart High School. The drivers told authorities they had no idea he was a sex offender. Evart Schools Superintendent Howard Hyde says he didn’t punish the second driver because he doesn’t believe she knew what was going on.
Hyde says, "People made a mistake. We're living in an imperfect world. Hopefully we learn and make changes."
Wilson told the police he knew he was breaking the law when he stepped onto school property, but did it because he wanted to give his fiancé moral support during her meeting. He's been charged with being a sex offender on school property, a misdemeanor. Wilson faces one year in prison and a $1000 fine.
