An Indiana teenager has been convicted of raping a non-verbal boy with autism while on a school bus.
Landon Doty, 16, who was tried as an adult, was convicted on all counts Thursday, April 2, including rape, child molestation, sexual battery, criminal confinement and public indecency, according to WXIN, WTHR and WDRB.
Prosecutors said Doty was seen on Jennings County school bus surveillance video raping the 7-year-old child, with court documents alleging that the incidents occurred over several weeks last year, WDRB reported.
Court records show that on April 17, 2025, a bus monitor saw Doty shove the child — who is non-verbal and has autism — from his lap, WDRB reported. The monitor had the driver stop the bus to intervene, and after separating them, requested that the bus surveillance footage be reviewed, per the outlet.
Doty testified in his defense, denying the allegations and claiming he was using “calming techniques” on the child, insisting that they were merely “messing around,” the outlet reported.
“I was bouncing him on my knee like a kid,” Doty said on the stand, per the outlet.
Authorities said that the boy was assigned to sit next to Doty on a school bus for children with special needs — despite Doty not having any himself. Doty was moved to the boy’s bus after he allegedly vandalized a seat on another bus, WTHR reported.
Doty’s defense attorneys maintained that the bus driver and bus monitor did not see their client engage in any sexual activity with the boy, according to WXIN.
His attorneys also said Doty’s DNA was not found on the child, according to WDRB.
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However, prosecutors said the bus video “speaks for itself,” the outlet reported, noting that the jury watched the hours-long footage.
WXIN reported an officer deemed Doty “beyond rehabilitation under the juvenile justice system” in a probable cause affidavit and determined he should be tried as an adult.
The boy’s family has since sued the Jennings County School Corporation, the bus driver and a bus monitor, alleging school staff were aware of the child’s vulnerability yet did not take sufficient steps to protect him, WLKY and WTHR reported.
According to WIXN, the family claims the boy suffered permanent injuries as a result of the sexual assaults.
Doty is scheduled to be sentenced on April 27.