马里兰州前校车随车员性侵多名残障儿童被判70年监禁
据当地媒体《先驱邮报》（The Herald-Mail）对庭审的报道，马里兰州华盛顿县一名前校车随车员因在校车上不当触碰多名弱势儿童，于2026年11月4日在华盛顿县巡回法院被判处70年州监禁。
被告 Michael Kevin Sowers（72岁）当日上午在答辩听证会上对7项三级性犯罪作 Alford 答辩——即不承认有罪、但承认控方证据足以定罪。法官 Mark K. Boyer 按助理州检察官 Dakota Parrish 的请求量刑：7项罪名每项判处10年监禁、均为该罪名最高刑，总计70年；Sowers 已服刑时间可抵扣176天。
检方在庭上表示，2026年5月6日，社会服务部接到多起报告，称5月5日一辆校车上发生不当触碰；一名幼儿园儿童报告自己在校车上被一名成人不当触碰、曾多次要求对方停手而未果，由此引发三家执法机构调查，并陆续发现更多受害人。6名受害儿童均因年龄或残障属于弱势群体，其中至少2名不会说话、1名坐轮椅，受害人包括男孩与女孩；Sowers 答辩的7项罪名中，有2项涉及同一名儿童在同一天的两起事件。全部事件发生于2026年2月至5月。
Parrish 在庭上称，这些儿童当时并不具备指认或报告所受侵害的条件，并称 Sowers 是「程度最高的掠食者」。Boyer 法官在宣判时表示，Sowers 本处于照护这些儿童的位置，其行为在法律与道德上都不可接受，并表示要确保他再无机会犯下同类罪行。
华盛顿县公立学校方面此前表示，Sowers 于5月8日被捕当天，校方称其自5月7日起已不再受雇于学区。判刑后，Sowers 须终身登记为三级性犯罪者。Hagerstown 警局侦探 Tony Fleegal 在听证会后表示，该局复核了 Sowers 工作过的校车录像，本案调查已经结案；华盛顿县警长办公室与马里兰州警察局此前各自开展了调查。
（来源：马里兰州华盛顿县巡回法院）
Former Maryland School Bus Attendant Sentenced to 70 Years for Sex Offenses Against Vulnerable Children
A former substitute school bus attendant for Washington County Public Schools in Maryland was sentenced to 70 years in state prison on November 4, 2026, for inappropriately touching several vulnerable children on school buses earlier this year, according to The Herald-Mail's reporting of the court hearing.
Michael Kevin Sowers, 72, of Washington County, entered an Alford plea to seven counts of third-degree sex offense during a plea hearing in Washington County Circuit Court. An Alford plea does not admit guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence to obtain a conviction. Judge Mark K. Boyer imposed the 70-year sentence sought by Assistant State's Attorney Dakota Parrish — 10 years, the maximum, on each of the seven counts. Sowers received 176 days of credit for time served.
Parrish told the court that the Department of Social Services received several reports on May 6 about inappropriate touching on a school bus on May 5. A kindergartner reported being inappropriately touched by an adult on a school bus that day, leading to investigations by three law enforcement agencies and the discovery of more victims, Parrish said. All six victims were described as vulnerable, either due to age or disability; at least two were nonverbal and one was wheelchair-bound, and the victims included children of both genders. Two of the counts involved the same child in separate incidents on the same day. The incidents occurred from February to May of this year.
Parrish told the judge that the children were not in a position to report what had happened to them and called Sowers a "predator of the highest magnitude." Boyer told Sowers his actions were legally and morally unacceptable and said he would make sure Sowers was unable to commit such a crime again.
Washington County Public Schools officials said on May 8, the day Sowers was taken into custody, that he was no longer employed by the school system as of May 7. As a Tier III sex offender, Sowers will have to register on the sex offender registry for life. Hagerstown Police Detective Tony Fleegal, who reviewed video from the school buses on which Sowers worked, said after the hearing that the investigation is closed; the Washington County Sheriff's Office and Maryland State Police conducted their own investigations.
(Source: Washington County Circuit Court, Maryland)
来源：马里兰州华盛顿县巡回法院
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