Response filed in suit alleging abuse of autistic boy on Bedford school bus

A former Bedford County school bus driver at the center of a lawsuit that claims she and an assistant abused an autistic student denies inflicting harm on the boy, according to a response filed Wednesday in Lynchburg Circuit Court.

Alice Davis Holland, of Bedford, was driving the bus in September 2009 when the alleged physical abuse of Thomas Earl Kilpatrick took place. Kilpatrick’s father is suing Holland, former aide Mary Alice Evans, of Bedford, and county school officials.

Graphic videos taken by a surveillance camera on the bus show Evans and Holland using their fists to strike Kilpatrick, who was 11 years old at the time. The two were fired and the matter was turned over to police, said Bedford Schools’ Superintendent Doug Schuch in October, a few days after the suit — which seeks $20 million in damages — was filed.

 Holland and Evans were convicted of misdemeanor assault in November 2009. Holland was ordered to serve one month of a 12-month sentence and Evans, two months of a 12-month sentence, according to court records.

Bevin R. Alexander, Jr., Holland’s attorney in Lynchburg, filed the seven-page response Wednesday and did not comment further. Kilpatrick’s attorney also did not comment since he said he has not seen the response; Holland also refused comment Wednesday.  

The suit was filed in Lynchburg because allegations came when Kilpatrick was aboard the bus and within the city limits as he was transported to the Laurel Regional Special Education Center in the city.

Holland’s response alleges she repeatedly reported “serious misbehavior” by Kilpatrick while on the bus and it caused a “serious disruption, which raised safety concerns” for passengers and employees on the bus.

The response alleges video images of Holland’s actions “depict her attempts to adjust the harness” provided to her and Evans and says she never choked or attempted to inflict any harm on Kilpatrick. The harness was provided by the school board’s bus supervisors when she reported the boy’s alleged “misbehavior,” the response says.

Her response says at no time did Holland threaten, intimidate, physically abuse or harm the student. Her duties as bus driver gave her “considerable latitude, range and scope of touching of Timothy, all of which was appropriate,” it states.

In addition to $20 million in damages, Kilpatrick’s suit seeks $500,000 in punitive damages from Holland and Evans. The Bedford County School Board and its special-education director are seeking dismissal from the suit.

The video, which Schuch last October described as “very disturbing,” currently is influencing legislators in the General Assembly session to require school personnel to prove they know how to deal with autistic behavior.

Evans’ attorney, Jim Guynn of Salem, is expected to file her response in upcoming weeks, Alexander said. 

WSLS contributed to this report.