School bus assault victim awarded $1.7 million for the trauma suffered when she was raped

A 15-year-old Okeechobee teen spent his birthday in the Okeechobee County jail after being arrested yesterday for bringing a BB gun on a school bus, deputies said.
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Posted: 02/07/2013

By: Associated Press

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Jurors in West Palm Beach have awarded a mentally challenged girl $1.7 million for the trauma suffered when she was raped on a school bus in 2007.

The jury deliberated a little more than two hours Wednesday. But the Palm Beach Post ( http://bit.ly/YcGE6I ) reports the girl's attorneys must now persuade the Florida Legislature to lift a cap on jury awards. That's because under state law, government agencies in 2007 could only be forced to pay $100,000 for injuries resulting in their wrongdoing.

Jurors rejected the school district's argument that the girl was too young and too mentally disabled to understand what a 15-year-old disabled student did to her.

After the incident, the school district decided that younger students could no longer ride on buses with older children.

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Information from: The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post, http://www.pbpost.com