VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach parents are seeking justice nearly one year after their son was reportedly assaulted on a school bus.
Antonio Mauro said his son Giovanni was riding the bus to Princess Anne Elementary School when the unthinkable happened. Mauro said Giovanni has Down syndrome and doesn’t speak.
“Just because a child can talk or can’t talk doesn’t make it right to place their hands on them. The difference is my son can’t talk. He can’t come home and tell me," Mauro said.
A lawsuit filed this month names several Virginia Beach City Public School (VBCPS) officials, a bus driver, and a bus aide. The suit claims on February 23, 2023, footage inside a school bus captured Lester Langhorne, the bus aide, assaulting the then-8-year-old child.
Mauro told 13News Now that he requested to view the footage after receiving a text message from the bus driver.
"The text message indicated that my son was having some bad behaviors on the bus," Mauro explained.
Mauro said he felt something didn't add up. Mauro said once the school division allowed him to watch the footage weeks later, he was shocked by what he saw.
“We saw our son be treated differently. He was targeted," Mauro said.
The suit claims the child was physically and verbally assaulted "for no reason other than his disability."
According to the lawsuit, Langhorne shoved the child into a seat and hit his hand and arm.
“You can tell that [Giovanni is] distraught. I mean, he’s signing for his mother and father in American Sign Language after he’s been assaulted," one of Mauro's attorneys, Ed Booth, told 13News Now.
The lawsuit said the bus driver, Ralph Denton, didn't do anything to stop Langhorne. It goes on to say Langhorne used a seatbelt restraint on the child, despite Denton warning him that they weren't allowed without the school's permission.
“The driver and the bus aide were effectively talking about and acting in concert to target [Giovanni] for assault, for being restrained against his will," Booth said.
Court records show Langhorne was found guilty of misdemeanor assault and battery in this case. A spokeswoman with VBCPS said Langhorne is no longer employed by the division.
“Based on the videos, that’s a no-brainer," Mauro said. "You can’t work with children when you do things like that.”
Mauro said his son is still enrolled in VBCPS; however, he now takes private transportation to and from school. The father said he doesn't want what happened to his son to happen to anyone else's child.
"The goal has always been change," Mauro said. “What are we doing to ensure this doesn’t happen again?”
The VBCPS spokeswoman said Denton is still employed by the division. She said the school division cannot comment on pending legal matters.