Content advisory: This article mentions allegations of sexual abuse against a child. Those who have experienced sexual abuse or who know someone who has been sexually assaulted or abused can call (800) 656-4673 or visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) website for resources.
A lawsuit recently filed in the Trigg Circuit Court alleges that a 6-year-old child in the local public school system was repeatedly sexually abused by an older student while riding a bus during the 2025-2026 school year.
The filing, as detailed in a Bryant Law Center press release Monday, makes the case that Trigg County Public Schools superintendent Rex Booth, bus garage director Scott Schrock and school bus driver Holly Schafer failed to “take appropriate action” despite being made of concerns about the child’s wellbeing. It also – “by and through his parents” – names the accused minor, alleging sexual assault, battery and sodomy.
The child’s grandmother, according to court documents obtained by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, notified Schrock of their concerns about seating arrangements that placed them with “substantially older” students. Though school officials, the suit alleges, acknowledged the concern and took action to correct the arrangement, those changes weren’t enforced.
According to the complaint, the kindergartener was assigned a seat next to a 6th grade student immediately behind the bus driver, an arrangement that blocked the young student against a bus window. The older student, the complaint indicates, “repeatedly subjected [the kindergartener] to sexual abuse and sodomy … during afternoon rides home from school.”
A neighbor of the younger student, the complaint states, observed approximately seven instances of sexual abuse between January and the end of the most recent school year – and twice reported the inappropriate conduct to the bus driver.
On both occasions, the complaint reads, Schafer is said to have responded, “Don’t worry about it.”
The young student also reported the abuse to the driver, according to the complaint. Schafer then temporarily changed the seating assignments for just one day. The bus driver then moved the child back to their original seat – allegedly saying over the bus radio that she didn’t believe the kindergartener because they were “too little, too young” and called the child “a liar.”
In May, the young student disclosed what had been happening to his grandparents, saying it “had been happening every afternoon on the ride home … since after Christmas.”
The lawsuit alleges the child has suffered “significant psychological and emotional harm” that requires ongoing counseling and treatment. The young student also withdrew from school during the academic year.
The lawsuit before the Trigg Circuit Court seeks compensatory damages – as well as punitive damages – on behalf of the 6-year-old child.
A report of the alleged abuse was filed on May 19 with the Cadiz Police Department. Local law enforcement officers then obtained and reviewed surveillance footage from the bus. CPD then charged the older student with first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree sodomy.
The criminal investigation remains ongoing.
The allegations in the lawsuit have not yet been heard in a court of law. Because the case involves a minor, Bryant Law Center did not identify the child or provide any information that would identify them.
