Bus driver, attendant arrested for child neglect

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Osceola County Sheriff's detectives arrested a bus driver and bus attendant for neglect after a 3-year-old special needs child was left on a bus for more than 6 hours.

The investigation began on November 3 when the Department of Children and Families contacted the Sheriff's Office about a possible child neglect. The mother had taken the child to the hospital to be checked out. The child appeared to be in good health.

The mother told DCF investigators and deputies she put her son on the bus that morning at approximately 6:53 a.m. The bus attendant helps to secure the child into a car seat.

At approximately 2:50 p.m., the mother received a call from a school employee indicating her son appeared to be in good health but was left on the bus the entire day. The school took the child home around 3:15 p.m. and the family took him to Osceola Regional Medical Center to be checked by a doctor.

Detectives interviewed the bus driver, Benjamin Gonzalez, 66, and the bus attendant Carmen Pacheco, 60, who indicated they picked up the child, along with other children that morning to transport them to Sunrise Elementary School. The children were dropped off at school and because they neglected to check the bus, no one saw the 3-year-old child still on the bus.

Gonzalez parked the bus at the bus barn located at Horizon Middle School and it wasn't until they went to get the bus to pick up the students in the afternoon did they notice the child still restrained in a car seat on the bus.

Detectives viewed a videotape which confirmed this information and based on the evidence, arrest warrants were obtained for Gonzalez and Pacheco. They were charged with one count of child neglect and taken to the Osceola County Jail.