School bus monitor charged with sexual assault

November 5, 2006

By Michael Rovito/Frontiersman

WASILLA - A school bus monitor accused of having sexual contact with two Wasilla Middle School students and attempted contact with another student was arrested early Friday after Alaska State Troopers pulled over a vehicle in which he was a passenger, ending a multi-week search for the man.

Martin Fleming, 35, is charged with two counts of sexual abuse of a minor, attempted sexual abuse of a minor and three counts of harassment.

An investigation that began in September after six Wasilla students alleged Fleming inappropriately touched them alleges that Fleming had sexual contact with two students while on the bus, and attempted to have sexual contact with a third. Along with testing positive for methamphetamine and cocaine on Sept. 15, Fleming also was found to have had offensive physical contact with three other students, according to a trooper report.

George Troxel, assistant superintendent of the Mat-Su School District, said students from the bus reported the incidents to a school counselor. The counselor then informed the principal who called the authorities.

Troxel said that, after Laidlaw - the contracted bus company - learned of the allegations, Fleming was removed from the bus run, but came back to the Wasilla Middle School campus against instructions and approached the bus driver for the students' names, which Troxel said the driver gave him.

&#8220Our first concern are those six students and their families,” Troxel said, adding that counselors have been provided to those students, and there was a discussion with Laidlaw addressing the district's expectations of drivers and monitors.

A representative from Laidlaw, John Ace, said Fleming had a clean background check when he came to the company for a job. Ace, a Driver Development and Safety employee, said the troopers performed the background check for Fleming, which is required of all candidates vying for a position with the busing services company.

A trooper's arrest report, which is available to anyone with Internet access, shows Fleming has past convictions of domestic violence, driving under the influence and malicious destruction of property, among other traffic and open container violations.

Troxel said the district does not review employees hired by Laidlaw, saying the company was contracted for the specific purpose of staffing transportation positions and providing children with a way to get to and from school.

A follow-up call to Ace inquiring about the type of convictions that would prevent a bus monitor from being hired was not returned by press time.

An official with the state troopers would not release Fleming's official criminal record, saying those records are confidential.

Bus monitors ride along with students so drivers can focus on the road and avoid becoming distracted by handling student behavior, said Troxel. Monitors are assigned to certain buses

at the request of a school's

principal.

Fleming had been a suspect since Trooper Shannon Fore, an investigator with the Child Abuse Investigation Unit, began questioning Fleming after allegations of touching surfaced from children on the school bus.

&#8220He hasn't admitted to it,” Fore said. &#8220He fully denies any contact with students.”

Fleming disappeared after Fore interviewed the alleged victims from the bus, Fore said. Troopers could not locate the suspect until Friday's early morning arrest.

For Troxel, the sexual assault incident is a shock, but he said it is something the district does try to prepare for.

&#8220In light of this arrest, we're not doing anything we weren't already doing,” Troxel said. &#8220Our first priority is student safety. We have talks about these things.”

Contact Michael Rovito at 352-2252 or michael.rovito@ frontiersman.com.