After a judge sentenced former Spotsylvania County Public Schools substitute bus attendant Miguel Velasquez Velasco to 48 years in prison on Friday for molesting five children with disabilities, the school division released a statement in which it attempted to answer many of the questions asked by community members since his September 2024 arrest.
What will the school division do to prevent something like this from occurring again?
Was Velasco legally allowed to work in the U.S.?
And, the most pressing question: Why was there a lapse between the initial email complaint from a parent on Sept. 11, 2024, and Velasco’s arrest on Sept. 26.
The statement from Superintendent Clint Mitchell and School Board Chair Megan Jackson noted that the first complaint was an email from a victim’s father to the child’s teacher that Velasco “had held and rubbed his daughter’s hand and it made his daughter feel uncomfortable.”
“This complaint was immediately addressed as per SCPS policy and practices,” the statement read.
The statement does not say how the complaint was addressed, and Mitchell declined to comment beyond the press release. The father who filed the initial complaint declined to speak to the Free Press last month based on advice from his attorney, who will represent the family in a potential civil lawsuit.
The release goes on to state that, on Sept. 26, school officials were made aware of alleged sexual misconduct and immediately notified Child Protective Services and the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office Child Victims Unit and launched an investigation. As a result of the investigation, school officials terminated Velasco’s employment and also contacted all parents and guardians of the identified students.
“Child Protective Services, Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office Child Victims Unit, and the Commonwealth’s Attorney Office affirms that over the past year Spotsylvania County Public Schools staff and leadership have fully cooperated to ensure that this individual was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” the statement read.
On Sept. 19 of this year, Velasco pleaded guilty to 13 sexual assault offenses against five children ranging in age from 4-8.
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. His sentence is for 201 years, with all but 48 suspended, exceeding the high end of the sentencing guidelines, Spotsylvania Commonwealth’s Attorney Ryan Mehaffey said.
“The Commonwealth strongly argued for a sentence that would occupy the rest of his natural life,” Mehaffey wrote in a Facebook post following the sentencing, “and while it is possible he lives long enough in prison to serve his entire sentence, it is also doubtful. His crimes of sexually assaulting numerous non-verbal, disabled children, are incomprehensible and he deserves severe punishment.”
Velasco’s conduct ended after school bus driver Tammy Lake insisted on a thorough review of surveillance on her bus on Sept. 26, 2024, after she witnessed Velasco acting suspiciously towards the children, Mehaffey said. Lake could not identify what was happening in the seats, but the review of footage revealed the assaults.
Mehaffey said Lake is a “hero” whose actions led directly to Velasco being caught. Mehaffey said the county owes a debt of gratitude to Lake for “saving the innocence of countless children.”
School officials said the entire incident is troubling.
“We are deeply saddened by what occurred, and our focus remains on the impacted students, providing support to them and their families and protecting their privacy,” the statement from SCPS read.
The statement noted that SCPS conducts full criminal background checks on potential employees, including fingerprinting and verification through the Virginia Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry, FBI and Virginia State Police. Any individual who committed a barrier crime per Virginia code is ineligible for employment.
According to the statement, Velasco met all criteria for employment, including proper work authorization from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. A statement from the sheriff’s office last September noted that Velasco’s immigration status was that of a “Lawful Permanent Resident” of the U.S., meaning he is a non-citizen who was lawfully authorized to live permanently in the U.S. and held a “green card.”
The SCPS statement detailed plans to implement safety measures they hope will prevent future incidents. Those measures include:
- Regularly reviewing bus camera footage, not just when a complaint is filed
- Striving to have two bus attendants on special-needs buses
- Changing the location of where bus attendants sit on routes
- Strengthening staff training and collaboration measures with CPS, the sheriff’s office and the commonwealth’s attorney.
- School board review of all background checks and hiring information
- Requiring school board approval of hourly employees and not just full-time employees
According to the statement, school officials wanted to wait until after Velasco’s sentencing to address the matter with the public “to avoid compromising the legal process and to ensure justice was served.”
They encouraged students, parents, guardians and staff to immediately report any concerns about student safety to school and division administrators, or to share information via an anonymous tipline at spotsylvania.k12.va.us/scpstips.
“The safety of students and staff is our greatest priority,” the statement read. “Actions that endanger or harm our students are not condoned and are immediately addressed to include dismissal from employment with SCPS and referral to law enforcement for potential criminal charges.”
