Suit: Boy sexually assaulted 4-year-old girl on school bus

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Updated: March 17, 2012 10:20AM

A 4-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a 12-year-old boy while riding a school bus for hearing-impaired children, a lawsuit filed Tuesday claims.

The mother, identified in the lawsuit as Jane Doe II, claims that on Jan. 21, 2010, her 4-year-old daughter was a passenger on a Sunrise school bus carrying children from an Oak Forest school for the hearing impaired, according to the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

The complaint claims that a 12-year-old boy, who also was on the bus, sexually assaulted the young girl on numerous occasions on and before Jan. 21, 2010, and the school bus driver took no action to prevent or stop the actions.

The lawsuit claims that Sunrise Bus Co. and a subsidiary, Sunrise Southwest LLC in Midlothian, employed a bus driver who was not qualified to supervise and protect minor and disabled children. The bus driver also failed to help the young girl who was being sexually assaulted, the lawsuit alleges.