(NECN: Alysha Palumbo - Lowell, MA) - Thanks to these school bus cameras, a man accused of raping an eighth grade Lowell Middle School student is behind bars.
22-year-old Gian Mirabel of Lawrence was charged yesterday with two counts of forcible child rape.
Lowell Police say he's accused of physically preventing the 16-year-old girl from leaving the bus.
"The bus driver would ask that the student stay on the bus and once all the other children departed from the bus, this child would be the only one left and then that's when the individual would allegedly take advantage of this child," said Lowell Police Superintendent Ken Lavallee.
Even though these bus cameras are checked periodically, the owner of the bus company Mirabel worked for said the unusual activity was noticed after Mirabel got in an accident with the bus last week.
President and owner of North Reading Transportation John McCarty said, "When he said the time and the place where the accident happened, we then went back and looked at the tape and looked at the GPS and said that school dropped off at that time, why was he at that school getting into an accident at that time when he should have been dropping off 20 minutes ago?"
The terminal manager checking the tape became concerned when she allegedly saw the girl on the bus alone with Mirabel.
"It enlightened us to what had happened on the school bus, which we may never have found out," said McCarthy.
Superintendent of Lowell Schools Chris Scott says there was no way to know Mirabel was capable of the crime of which he's been accused because he did not have a record.
Scott said, "The bus company does all the CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) checks with the state, but Lowell Public Schools actually take the extra measure and we do the CORI as well, so we CORI twice and this particular bus driver in question, the CORI came back clean."
Lowell Police Superintendent Ken Lavallee says if parents have any concerns about their child related to this case, they should call the police department or the school.
"At this time, we know of no other victims besides this young lady. That's not to say there are no other victims. I would suggest that parents speak with their children if they have any concerns," said Lavallee.
