COLUMBUS, Ohio – A school bus driver is facing criminal charges after allegedly holding a nine-year-old boy's arms and instructing a girl to hit him.
Brenda Abdul-Mateen, 58, resigned from Columbus City Schools on Feb. 13 as the district was preparing to fire her, the Columbus Dispatch reported Monday.
The incident occurred on the afternoon of Jan. 25 on a bus driven by Abdul-Mateen. District spokesman Jeff Warner said she "believed that the boy had been picking on the girl, and that apparently wasn't the case."
Abdul-Mateen allegedly stopped her bus near an intersection, went to where the boy was sitting and told the girl to hit him.
"The victim held his hands up to avoid being struck. The suspect instructed the other student to hit the victim again and harder while the suspect held the victim's arms down," police said.
Even if the boy had been picking on the girl, Warner said, "that wasn't acceptable."
The boy was not seriously injured in the incident. The girl was not disciplined because she was following a school employee's instructions, according to Warner.
The school district notified police, who charged Abdul-Mateen with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and the unruliness of a child.
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