(CNN) – On September 3, a Lake Mary, Florida, father jumped onto his daughter’s school bus and confronted bullies who he says had been tormenting the girl over the previous three days. James Jones was captured on bus surveillance video yelling and threatening kids on the bus. Jones has publicly apologized but may face two second-degree misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and disturbing a school function.
Jackson said that Jones and his wife did not inform the school that their daughter was being bullied. The girl has cerebral palsy. The bullying was so traumatizing, Jones says his daughter is currently hospitalized. James Jones and his lawyer, Natalie Jackson, joined us on Wednesday's American Morning.
James Jones: Well, she's – she's on the medications – she suffered with cerebral palsy. We'd like to let everybody know that. Cerebral palsy is out there and kids do suffer with that. And right now we are just – hopefully when she comes home [from the hospital] we can get on with our lives with this.
Kiran Chetry: And tell us a little bit about what led up to your words on the bus, your screaming.
Jones: Well, basically my daughter was not – wasn't catching the bus, my wife was just [taking] her to school. She was getting up late, dragging around the house. And then all of a sudden the day when we were headed out [to the bus stop], she finally opened up and told me what was going on. And from there, you know, being a dad just loving my daughter … and just loving all my kids, you know ... [At] that point, my heart broke when I [saw] her standing there… [she] wasn't going to get on the bus crying. And a dad is a dad. And I was going to be her protector that day.
Chetry to Jones’ attorney Natalie Jackson: The Seminole County school district is saying none of this [the alleged bullying] was reported to them. Is that true?
Jackson: The bullying incidents, the specific bullying incidents, no, they were not reported. Mr. Jones did not find out about the specific bullying incidents until that day. When his daughter finally broke down and told him. And that's common among kids that have been bullied. They feel that it doesn't matter if they tell authority figures. They feel lonely and helpless. What they did notice was that their daughter had become increasingly distraught, and also distant from them. So she would come home and close her door. They would try to talk to her. She was depressed. The mother – Mr. Jones' wife took – that week of the accident, she started driving the daughter to school because the daughter would purposely miss the bus. So she had to drive her to school.
Chetry: Is your client – is James going to face any charges in connection with this?
Jackson: He was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and obstruction of a school function. In Florida, those are both second-degree misdemeanors. In Florida the state attorney is the person who moves forward with charges. At this point, there has not been any formal charges [filed.]
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