Montville School Bus Driver Charged With Child Endangerment
Tuesday, July 29, 2025, 7:15 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
MONTVILLE, NJ.- On Friday, July 25, 2025, following an investigation, a 61-year-old Hamburg, New Jersey, man, employed as a school bus driver, was taken into custody and criminally charged in connection with leaving a 4-year-old special needs child inside a parked school bus earlier this month.
According to Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll, the criminal complaint alleges that on July 10, 2025, a 4-year-old special needs student was left on a school bus parked in a bus yard for around two-and-a-half hours unsupervised. The child’s absence that morning was noticed by school staff at Valley View Elementary School in Towaco, New Jersey.
School staff members contacted the child’s parents, who informed them that the child had boarded the school bus earlier that morning. The child was subsequently found inside the school bus, left alone in the parked bus. The child was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment for an elevated heart rate and low blood pressure, and has since recovered.
Joint Investigation Result In Charges Being Filed
As a result of the ensuing investigation by Detectives of the Montville Police Department and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, on Friday, Frank J. Blair, 61, of Hamburg, New Jersey, was taken into custody and formally charged with one count of second-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child. The investigation revealed that Blair failed to inspect the interior of the bus, contrary to state regulations and company guidelines.
Blair was processed on the charges and was released on pretrial monitoring conditions, including no supervision of children, pending future court proceedings in Morris County Superior Court in Morristown, New Jersey.
“The rules of the court require us to include a statement that states: The charges outlined in this publication are merely accusations, and the defendant and or defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”
