SNOHOMISH — A Snohomish School District bus driver caught on tape yanking a kindergarten student to the floor of a moving bus will not be charged with a crime, prosecutors said Thursday.
Footage from the Jan. 20 incident made national news after the girl’s mother released it to the media. Daniel Taylor, who had been warned before not to touch students after the district investigated previous complaints by parents, resigned Feb. 1. A surveillance camera recorded him pulling down the 6-year-old girl by her backpack in the bus aisle while he was at the wheel and driving. He was frustrated that she was standing up.
The case resulted in a Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office investigation. It was up to prosecutors to determine whether to file a charge of fourth-degree assault, a gross misdemeanor.
Deputy prosecutor Kathy Jo Blake said she reviewed the entire video of the bus ride home from Cathcart Elementary School. The portion seen by television and Internet viewers was a small segment and it didn’t include all the audio, she said.
“When you watch the entire thing, which is what a jury would do, it makes things a little less clear cut,” Blake said.
Under District Court charging standards, prosecutors must believe that the evidence is convincing enough that a judge or jury would convict despite the most plausible defense that could be raised.
“Given the entirety of the video, I don’t think that a reasonable and objective fact finder would likely convict,” Blake said.
“It appears his intent was to correct her behavior and to keep her from injuring herself if the bus were to come to a sudden stop,” she added.
Ashley Reavely, the mother of the girl who was pulled down, said she was irritated charges would not be filed. She blamed the law, not prosecutors.
“I can’t believe that it’s OK for someone to do that to somebody else’s kid,” she said.
Taylor, 63, previously said he was sorry for what happened. The Mukilteo man could not immediately be reached for comment.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
