MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — A shocking case of sex abuse by a school bus driver has put a new focus on the value security cameras on school buses, according to Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy.
Former Montgomery County School Bus driver Etienne Kabongo was sentenced to 90 years in prison with all but 40 years suspended Thursday.
He was caught on camera sexually assaulting four special needs students.
"Thank God we have cameras on buses," McCarthy said.
Kabongo had been driving a Montgomery County school bus for 16 years, according to testimony in the case.
But by 2018, new camera systems were being installed.
When a parent raised questions about her daughter's interaction with Kobango, McCarthy said the video was critical.
"These are are profoundly handicapped kids, most nonverbal, who could not articulate what happened to them. But the camera told us the story we needed to have," McCarthy said.
Investigators documented four sexual assaults by Kobango, who was sentenced to 40 years this week.
A school bus camera also documented an attempted kidnapping of a middle school boy last week in Gaithersburg, according to Steve Randazzo, an executive with BusPatrol, the company that puts cameras on busses.
In the state of Maryland were on 4751 school busses," Randazzo said. “This is a proud day for our company because of how passionately we believe school safety is."
Much of the attention on school bus cameras is on the automated systems that catch motorists violating the prohibition on passing stopped buses with lights flashing.
In Maryland the fines are $250 per ticket, with more than 36,000 tickets issued in Montgomery County last year.
Randazzo says school districts can opt to use some of that money to install security cameras inside buses too, which Montgomery County chose.
The company provides camera systems in 9 Maryland Counties including Montgomery, Prince Georges, Anne Arundel and Charles.
The investigation into 67-year-old Etienne Kabongo began in July 2018.
Two of the victims were minors at the time of their assaults, and the other two were 18 years old, according to police.
At the time of his arrest, the school district confirmed Kabongo, also known as Mr. Steve, was no longer employed with them.
Kabongo pleaded guilty to several charges, including Sexual Abuse of a Minor, for the abuse of the four girls. However, he maintained that he was not criminally responsible due to an alleged mental disorder. Thursday, a jury found Kabongo criminally responsible for the sexual assaults.
In addition to his prison sentence, Kabongo was ordered five years of supervised probation should he ever be released.
Police now fear there may be more victims.