A bus driver in Indiana is facing criminal charges after students shared video apparently revealing that she allowed kids to take turns driving the vehicle.
The three children identified as having taken the wheel of the large bus were 11, 13 and 17 years old.
According to Fox News, 27-year-old Joandrea McAtee was arrested on Friday. She is expected to face charges including felony neglect of a dependent.
Authorities were alerted to videos of the alleged illegal behavior after they began to circulate on social media.
In one video, a woman is heard telling one child not to “tell no other adults.”
Porter County Sheriff David Reynolds confirmed that the agency and local school district take the “safety and security of every student seriously,” assuring parents “that this case will be investigated thoroughly.”
The bus company that employed McAtee fired her upon hearing of the charges, issuing a statement indicating it was “incredibly disappointed” in her alleged actions.
Porter Township School officials did not immediately issue a statement in connection with the suspect’s arrest.
Reynolds praised both students and parents for bringing the actions on board the bus to light.
“The students and parents that immediately came forward with this information should be commended for doing exactly what we teach, which is SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING,” he said. “An investigation was immediately started and no one was injured or harmed. The Sheriff’s Office and the Porter Township School Corporation takes safety and security of every student seriously and every parent must understand that this case will be investigated thoroughly.”
Wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, Boone grove bus driver let’s a middle schooler drive, middle schooler drive. pic.twitter.com/IdF4zRkhRG
— Casey✨ (@_caseyweber) September 21, 2018
[Featured image: Joandrea McAtee, Porter County Sheriff’s Office]
