WASHINGTON — A Montgomery County school bus driver charged earlier this summer with raping a special-needs student on his bus route has now been charged with sexually abusing three other students, school officials said.
Montgomery County Public Schools announced the additional victims in a message to parents on Friday.
Etienne Kabongo, 62, has now been indicted on a total of 14 counts of sexual abuse, according to online court records. The school system said the sexual abuse of students occurred on his bus route from May through July 2018.
Kabongo, who was known as “Mr. Steve” to some students, drove school buses for the county for more than a decade primarily transporting special needs students.
Kabongo was arrested earlier this month after police said a bus surveillance camera captured him assaulting a 12-year-old girl after another attendant left the bus.
Kabongo, who has been held without bond since his initial arrest, is no longer employed by the school system.
Montgomery County Public Schools has released a detailed list of bus routes Kabongo drove over the years. School officials urge parents to contact the Montgomery County Police Department’s Special Victims Investigations Division at 240-773-5400 if they have any information that may aid the investigation.
In addition, the school system has installed a dedicated phone line for questions about Kabongo. The phone number is 240-740-3214.
At a public meeting last week, parents of special education students raised questions about their children’s safety and questioning school officials about whether school bus cameras could be monitored in real time to protect students.
