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Gov. orders cops to report school bus driver arrests after FOX25 Investigates report

BOSTON — State regulators are seeking to fix the system that licenses school bus drivers after FOX25 Investigates exposed a dangerous loophole that found drivers charged with serious crimes were falling through the cracks and allowed to keep their licenses.

New orders from the Governor’s Office could remove bus drivers arrested for serious crimes from the job and suspend their licenses to transport children while the charges are pending.

Gov. Charlie Baker told Investigative Reporter Eric Rasmussen back in September that he didn’t know about the problem until FOX25 Investigates reported about the troubling gap in the system.

At the time, Baker said he wanted to see the loophole closed after FOX25 reported a bus driver kept his license after he was charged with the rape of a 12-year-old girl with autism.

On Monday, the Governor’s Office sent a bulletin to all law enforcement sent over the Criminal Justice Information System asking any officers who suspect they have arrested a licensed school bus driver to report the incident to the RMV.

The order comes just days after FOX25 Investigates followed up with Baker’s office.

The Governor’s Office tells FOX25 Investigates the RMV is working on an automatic notification system – a permanent fix to this loophole. But that new alert system may not be available until next year.

Victims’ advocate Wendy Murphy called the new orders “common sense.”

“We’re talking about protecting children. There should be no delay,” Murphy told FOX25. “There's no boss on the bus to make sure the driver isn't molesting children, so the least we can do – if we're going to give an adult that kind of access to kids – is take immediate action when they get caught.”

FOX25 Investigates first highlighted the crack in the licensing system in September with a report on Chris Chiasson.

Chiasson, a school bus driver in Gardner, was arrested in a neighboring town for the rape of a 12-year-old girl with autism, but the state Department of Public Utilities, which licenses all school bus drivers in the state, never suspended his license.

That 12-year-old girl didn’t ride his bus and Chiasson has pleaded not guilty.

The charges against Chiasson are still pending and he is scheduled to appear in court again next month