The parents of a Melbourne teenager with intellectual disabilities are seeking legal advice after he was commanded to perform a sexual act by another student on a school mini-bus which was supposed to be supervised by a chaperone.
The incident comes after several other Victorian incidents where children with disabilities were left abandoned on buses for hours and found at depots.
Victorian Education Minister James Merlino today told 7.30 he had commissioned an independent investigation into the school’s handling of the incident involving the teenager.
The Victorian Education Department has issued Crown Coaches, which has the contract for all special school buses in Melbourne, with a show cause notice, and has cancelled the contract with the child’s school.
Jalen Aughterson was 16 when his mother Leanne was horrified to discover a video on his mobile phone, which had been taken by another student, who also has an intellectual disability.
The student had filmed a selfie-style video of him repeatedly encouraging Jalen, who has an IQ of under 50, to give him oral sex on the bus.
The student’s genitals were exposed for much of the video.
Ms Aughterson could not watch the whole video because it was so distressing — she gave it to her husband.
“Something that I never ever imagined could have happened, happened,” Ms Aughterson said.
“I’d put him out there and relied on people to look after him or protect him, where we can’t, and their system failed.”