A former bus aide for Spotsylvania County Public Schools pleaded guilty Friday to 13 sexual assault offenses against children on a special needs bus in the county.
The convictions include nine counts of aggravated sexual battery, two counts of custodial indecent liberties, one count of attempted sodomy and one count of simple battery.
Miguel Angel Velasquez Velasco, 23, will face more than 200 years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 21.
According to a statement from Spotsylvania Commonwealth’s Attorney Ryan Mehaffey, the offenses began Sept. 11, 2024 with Velasco touching a wheelchair-bound 8-year-old in a way that made her feel “uncomfortable.” The child reported the incident to her father, who reported it to the school, Mehaffey said in a statement.
Velasco was arrested and charged later that month.
On Friday, Velasco pleaded guilty to assaulting five special-needs children total, whose ages range from 4 to 8, over the course of approximately two weeks.
The conduct ended after a school bus driver insisted on a thorough review of surveillance on her bus on Sept. 26, 2024, after she witnessed Velasco acting suspiciously towards the children on the bus, Mehaffey said. The driver could not identify what was happening in the seats, but the review of footage revealed the assaults. Mehaffey said some of the victims are non-verbal autistic children who could not speak up for themselves.
