MILWAUKEE – A school bus driver caught on a hidden tape recorder threatening to beat a 9-year-old boy with Down’s syndrome was sentenced to six months in jail.
Brian Duchow, 29, pleaded guilty in May to one count of child abuse that intentionally caused great harm after a criminal complaint said he admitted slapping the boy and cursing at him on the bus.
“This isn’t someone who has just mildly lost patience,” Judge Michael Brennan said at a hearing Friday. “This is someone who’s angry – very angry – with a child. … No one should be treated like this.”
Jacob Mutulo’s parents had placed a voice-activated tape recorder in their son’s backpack because of concerns about how the boy was behaving on the bus.
On the recording, Duchow can be heard telling the boy to “stop before I beat the living hell out of you,” among other threats.
Jacob’s parents said the boy was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after the abuse was discovered.
Duchow said he felt bad about the way he treated Jacob: “If I could, I’d travel back in the past to correct everything that was done wrong,” he said.
He was also given three years of probation and ordered to complete an anger-management program and hold no job in which he would have contact with minors or the mentally, emotionally or physically disabled.
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