Charges dropped against Salinas school bus driver accused of rape
UPDATE 10/24/18 1:55 p.m.: The felony case has been dismissed against a Salinas school bus driver accused of raping developmentally disabled children.
According to Bill Harvey’s lawyer, Gary Harlan Thelander, Harvey’s case was dismissed more than a week ago before the preliminary hearing due to insufficient evidence.
Thelander told KION his client was dragged through the mud and did not do anything and now he is concerned for Harvey’s future in the community since he was villainized.
Thelander said the District Attorney decided to dismiss the case and charges were dropped.
Harvey was first arrested in Seaside on March 9th.
He was booked into the Monterey County Jail on charges of Rape of a Person Unable to Give Consent, Rape by Force or Fear, Lewd Act Upon a Child, Kidnapping and Stalking.
He was a special needs bus driver for the Salinas Union High School District.
Statement from Harvey and lawyer:
Mr. Bill Harvey, and his family are grateful to the Monterey County Office of the District Attorney for its determination to dismiss the charges against him in their entirety. Clearly, he wishes that judgment would have been exercised before the charges were filed, but nonetheless believes the justice system ultimately worked in his case. Mr. Harvey declines any further public statement as he wishes to move forward and hopes his family’s life can return to normal
As Mr. Harvey’s attorney I will say it has been devastating to Mr. Harvey and his family to have suffered the notoriety caused by the publication of the charges against him. While his closest friends and family remained steadfast in their support of him, many members of his society shunned and rebuked him.
He has been asked to leave his church, suffered unpaid suspension from his employment, received threats of harm and was exposed to public degradation.
It is however a testament to the justice system that the District Attorney’s Office made the determination to dismiss the case as new evidence came to be known. We’re grateful to our private investigators and the Salinas Police Department for their efforts.
Gary Thelander
Attorney to Mr. Harvey
Click here to read the previous story on Harvey’s arrest.
