Stanley Brotnitski is a single father who loves his 11-year-old son Ryan more than anyone can imagine.
Ryan is autistic and has been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and mental retardation.
So when his father found out what was happening to his son on his All City Transportation bus ride each day, he was stunned.
"My son was being abused by the bus driver and by his aide," he said.
Brotnitski couldn't believe it when a child on the bus came forward to tell him the bus driver and his aide were stuffing a handkerchief in Ryan's mouth each day when they picked him up at his South Philly home.
The bus ride takes over an hour to get to Ryan's school in Delaware County.
This allegedly happened from January to June, supposedly to keep Ryan, who can't speak, from making noises.
"We would go out to the bus and he would start like putting up his bottom lip and started crying," Brotnitski explained.
Ryan's father called police and after an extensive investigation, 36-year-old bus driver Donnel Bowman and his bus aide, Eric Crawford, were charged with assault, endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment.
They face a preliminary hearing on Tuesday.
"The other children on the bus were in fear of the bus driver and the aide. That's why nothing was ever told to me about this," he added.
Ryan now takes another bus to school. His father wants the bus driver and his aide prosecuted to the fullest extent.
"For this to happen, it's unbelievable," he said. "One of them has a record, was arrested nine times. How do people get hired like this."
A woman who answered the phone for the bus company says the two workers are no longer with the company. No one else from the company returned our call.
Friends of the family are now holding a "Ride for Ryan benefit" to raise money for Ryan so his dad can buy a handicapped van to transport his son to school each day.
It will be held at Della Polla's Tavern in Milmont Park, Delaware County on November 10th.
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Stanley Brotnitski says his son, who is autistic, was tormented on the bus to school each day.
