A former school bus driver - who pleaded guilty to one count of fourth-degree committing an unlawful act on a child - was sentenced to three and a half years of probation, has now agreed to pay a more than $1.25 million settlement to a woman he sexually assaulted on his bus when she was in elementary school.
Officials say Mount Arlington school district, Byram Bus Lines and the driver, 78-year-old Edward Comperchio, agreed Monday to pay the victim, now 21, for the molestation that reportedly occurred repeatedly in third and sixth grades.
According to the suit, Comperchio would allegedly pick up Bishop before her scheduled time and would take the bus to a nearby vacant parking lot, where he would turn off the surveillance camera to molest her and would then turn the camera back on before beginning the bus route.
Officials say Comperchio’s plea deal only focused on one offense committed on May 27, 2009. In addition to probation, Comperchio was also ordered to have no unsupervised contact with non-family members under the age of 18 and could not work in any job involving people under that age.
Although all collectively denied any responsibility, the district contributed $250,000 to the settlement while Comperchio agreed to pay $1 million. The bus company settled for a confidential amount of money.