Posted on 05/16/2002 5:22:28 AM PDT by marshmallow
HOUSTON -- A bus driver with the Aldine Independent School District remained behind bars Wednesday for allegedly sexually abusing an 11-year-old student, authorities said.
Teresa Waters, 30, was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
Waters was being held at the Houston Police Department's Southeast Command Post, but was expected to be transferred later today to the Harris County jail downtown.
The boy's mother, who was not identified, said that when she asked her child what happened, her heart broke.
"My son, of course, was scared to death. (He) would just cry and say, 'No, mommy, no,'" said the mother.
Houston police said the abuse started at Waters' home in Spring, Texas, in the summer of 2001. The boy was a student at the Spring Independent School District, along with Waters' daughter.
Police said Waters and the boy met at her home, in her car and in a motel until Waters' boyfriend found out about the relationship and told authorities.
"He found some letters that the complainant had written the suspect and that the suspect had written the complainant. He turned those over to the police," said Officer Wade Head, with the Houston Police Department.
The boy's mother said Waters convinced him that she loved him.
"She literally had my son believing that they were going to be married," the mother said.
Police said Waters' relationship with other children was strange.
"I've talked to several of the kids and it's like she was one of the kids," Head said.
"I feel really sorry for her. I think that she needs a lot of help. I think that anybody who would do that to a little child needs help," the mother said.
Police said that even though the alleged abuse began last summer, they waited to arrest Waters because the boy was receiving therapy and only recently disclosed enough information for them to make a case.
The boy's mother said that Waters tried to contact her son last week by delivering a note to his school with her daughter.
School district officials said that a criminal background check was performed on Waters, as standard procedure, when she was hired as a bus driver. No criminal history was found.
Harris County Children's Protective Services asked that Waters' three children be voluntarily removed from her home. They were placed in their father's care.
If Waters is convicted, she could receive the maximum punishment of life in prison.
Police did not rule out the possibility that there could be more victims.
Yet another sign of a culture which is rotting from within.
I don't think so. I think this sort of thing has been going on all along and is just coming to light because of the information age. I do not approve of this. But I think a sentence of life in prison is too harsh. I also observe that this is part of a neopuritanism, meaning that the judgments of society (the culture) differ but the basic puritannical judgmentalism is intact, not that this is necessarily a bad thing. Just an observation.
Wonder if this woman has a copy of the Levine pro-sex with children book at home. Maybe she thinks it's a "self-help" book.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.