A former Kent School District bus driver faces a May 6 trial date on charges that he allegedly raped an 11-year-old female student multiple times over three months inside a bus before dropping her off at her stop.
King County prosecutors have charged Ansu Aoyub Konneh, 39, of Renton, with two counts of first-degree rape of a child and one count of first-degree child molestation, according to charging documents.
The incidents reportedly occurred between April 12, 2021 and June 30, 2021. The elementary school girl was the last student Konneh would drop off during his afternoon route. The girl came forward with information about the incidents in March 2023. Prosecutors filed charges June 30, 2023.
Konneh pleaded not guilty to the charges on Aug. 31, 2023. Several trial dates have been rescheduled, which could happen again with the May 6 date if attorneys for either side request more time to prepare the case.
Konneh was booked Aug. 19, 2023 into the King County jail. Bail was set at $100,000. A judge approved Konneh’s release to electronic home monitoring on March 22, 2024, according to court records.
“This is an especially predatory and disturbing offense,” wrote Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Rhyan Anderson in charging documents. “The defendant, a Kent School District elementary school bus driver, was entrusted with the safety and care of this young victim.
“After all the victim’s elementary school friends were safely dropped off at their respective bus stops, the young 11-year-old victim in this case was left alone on the bus with the defendant.”
Anderson wrote that Konneh reportedly gained the girl’s trust with chips and snacks in order to gain access to her body. He allegedly would park at a remote location where the girl said she could see cars in the distance and trees around her.
The stepmother of the girl called Kent Police in March 2023 to report her stepdaughter reportedly had been sexually assaulted on her Kent school bus a year or so ago.
The girl attended her in-school counseling session in March 2023 when she wrote a note to her male counselor that she wanted to see his private area, according to charging documents. The counselor contacted the stepmother, who then asked the girl if she had ever seen a man’s private area before.
The girl then went into details about what the driver allegedly would do on the bus and later revealed more details during a child forensic interview to talk about the “bus situation.”
The girl said the driver told her not to tell anyone about what they did and if she did, he would take her to his house, according to court documents. He reportedly told her he was not married and he didn’t have anybody which is why he was doing those things to her.
A Kent detective contacted the human resources director for the Kent School District who said Konneh had asked for a leave of absence in March 2022 without providing a reason. The district ultimately fired him from the district in September 2022 for job abandonment.
Detectives tracked down a residence for Konneh in Renton, where he rented a room. A detective contacted Konneh by phone to set up a meeting about the allegations. Konneh did not agree to a time to meet, according to charging documents.
Following the report of the girl’s sexual assault, her father took her to Valley Medical Center in Renton for a sexual assault exam. The girl’s blood work returned with a positive result for herpes simplex virus 2, a lifelong infection, according to charging papers.
A doctor from the UW Medicine Virology Research Clinic told a detective that the virus can only be acquired through sexual contact, according to court documents.
Kent School District officials did not respond to an April 19 email from the Kent Reporter for comment about the case, the hiring of Konneh or if any steps have been taken to change protocols since the alleged incidents.
According to documents provided to the Kent Reporter from a school district resident, the district hired Konneh in March 2018 as a substitute bus driver and in April 2018 he was reassigned as a full-time driver.
The Kent Reporter reached out April 22 to Konneh’s Seattle criminal defense attorney David Hammerstad for comment, but has not heard back.
Talk to us
Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.
To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website http://kowloonland.com.hk/?big=submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.
