Iver T. Roselund Jr.
KENNETT SQUARE — The bus driver in the incident that saw a seven-year-old Kennett Consolidated School District student left on a bus for more than 5 1/2 hours March 31, now faces criminal charges.
Krapf bus driver Iver T. Roselund Jr was arrested Thursday and charged with endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering another person after allegedly leaving the student — The Times is not offering any identifying characteristics of the student to protect the child’s identity. Krapf reportedly fired Roselund after the incident came to light last month.
“This case is a parent’s worst nightmare: you put your child on a school bus and the child seems to disappear,” Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said in a statement. “The defendant’s misconduct seriously endangered this little (child). In the weather we had a month ago, (the child) would have frozen to death. A month from now, (the child) could have died from heat stroke. We are all lucky that (the child) was not seriously hurt.”
According to authorities, Roselund, of Malvern, picked up the child at home on March 31 and was supposed to transport the child to a district elementary school, Mary D. Lang. Instead of taking the victim to the school, the defendant drove past the school and parked the van at the Krapf Bus Company lot on South Walnut Street in the borough.
The child was marked absent after not arriving at school, and school officials notified the child’s parents that afternoon. Upon consultation with the child’s parent, she told them her child had gotten on the school bus in the morning, sparking an immediate search. The child was found at approximately 2:50 p.m. in the van parked at the bus lot, still strapped into a seat — having not moved for six hours.
Local police officials expressed shock that a driver could leave a young child on a school bus.
“Leaving a young child unattended in a vehicle is serious and could have had tragic consequences,” Kennett Square Police Department Police Chief Edward Zunnino said. “This bus driver’s conduct put this little (child) at risk. I am very proud of the hard work my officers put into this investigation bringing about the defendant’s arrest.”
Borough police were called in to investigate the incident. Police learned that Krapf Bus Company has a policy that all drivers are to check their vehicles before leaving to make sure that there are no children still on board. The defendant allegedly did not perform that check before leaving the van at the bus lot that day.
Hogan noted that although the story is horrifying, the final result was a good one, thanks to the effort of many.
“We are all thankful that this little girl was returned to her family,” he said. “Law enforcement appreciates the cooperation of the Kennett Consolidated School District and Krapf Bus Company during this investigation.”
The case was investigated by the borough Police Department. The case has been assigned to the District Attorney’s Child Abuse Unit for prosecution.
