Two Hillsborough County school bus employees were arrested after an investigation into the abuse of a special needs student.

TAMPA, Fla. — A child abuse investigation led to the arrest of two Hillsborough County school bus employees.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office says the investigation started on Nov. 14 after a witness reported seeing a school bus aide hit a child while the bus was parked at Caminiti Exceptional School in Tampa.

According to the sheriff’s office, the 10-year-old child is diagnosed with autism and ADHD and is minimally verbal.

HCSO detectives reviewed surveillance video from the bus, which they say shows bus aide Juanita Wright, 79, repeatedly abusing the child.


The video also reportedly captured Wright and the bus driver, Tonya Rice-Constant, 62, laughing during the incident.


According to HCSO, further review of video footage on Dec. 23 revealed 13 additional days of abuse between Oct. 2 and Nov. 14, in which Wright was observed striking the child.

On Jan. 26, detectives arrested Juanita Wright on 14 counts of child abuse and Tonya Rice-Constant for failure to report child abuse. 

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister will give more details on the arrests at 11 a.m. Stream it for free on the 10 Tampa Bay News app for your TV.

In a statement, Hillsborough County Schools told 10 Tampa Bay News that Wright was fired as soon as it was made aware of the allegations and that Rice-Constant retired in November when the investigation began:

“We are deeply disturbed by the actions that led to the arrest of a bus attendant and driver for the abuse of a child while in their care.

The bus attendant, who was hired in 2012, was removed from duty back in November as soon as we were made aware of the allegations. Her employment has been terminated. The bus driver, who was hired in 1997, was arrested for failure to report. The driver retired from the district in November when the investigation began.

The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority. We train our transportation team members on safety, student care, and their responsibility to report concerns immediately. When anyone violates that trust, we take swift action and will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement as this matter moves forward. “