Queens School Bus Driver Charged with Sexually Abusing 3 Students

Nelson Painchault, of 37th Avenue in the Corona section of Queens, was arraigned Friday morning before Queens Criminal Court Judge Suzanne Melendez on a criminal complaint charging him with eighteen counts of first-degree sexual abuse and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child. 

He is alleged to have committed the acts between September and November 2010.

The shocking case came to light when one of the girls told family her members, who then contacted school administrators, who notified authorities.

“The charges are disturbing on so many levels," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. "School bus drivers have a responsibility to safely transport the children under their care to school and thereafter return them to their parents. The defendant is accused of betraying that trust by engaging in inappropriate contact with them. Such conduct cannot go unpunished.”

Brown said that, according to the charges, Painchault sexually abused the three girls on multiple occasions between September 9 and November 3, by inappropriately touching their private parts over their clothing while on the bus. 

Painchault, who faces up to seven years in prison if convicted, was ordered held on $100,000 bail and is set to return to court on December 6, 2010.