VERNON, Ind. (WDRB) — A Jennings County, Indiana, jury found a teen guilty of raping a 7-year-old student on a school bus last year.
Landon Doty, 16, of North Vernon, was tried as an adult after being accused of raping an autistic, non-verbal 7-year-old student on a school bus over the course of several weeks in April 2025.
On Wednesday, after only a two-day trial, a jury found Doty guilty on charges of rape, attempted rape, child molesting, attempted child molesting, sexual battery, attempted sexual battery, criminal confinement and public indecency.
Jennings County school bus video reportedly captured several of the incidents. Records show a school bus monitor noticed Doty pushing the 7-year-old off his lap the morning of April 17, 2025. The monitor had the bus driver stop and confront Doty. The two were separated, and the monitor requested a review of the bus surveillance video.
The behavior allegedly occurred repeatedly over several weeks, according to court documents.
During the trial on Wednesday, the jury exclusively watched those bus videos for more than an hour. The public and media were asked to step out of the courtroom.
Previously, Doty's attorneys tried to get the case thrown out, claiming neither the bus monitor nor the bus driver saw any sexual acts happening. His attorneys argued video tapes from the school bus don't show the acts happening either. When Doty's legal team deposed the bus driver and bus monitor last September, they both testified they "saw nothing alarming" and that the alleged victim "was not acting 'funny' nor upset after the alleged acts."
Doty's attorneys accuse the state of resting its case primarily on April 16 video tapes from the bus and the evidence is circumstantial, as the bus driver didn't see anything first hand and Doty's DNA wasn't found on the child.
On Wednesday, the prosecution rested its case a little before 11:30 a.m. Then, the defense called its only witness, Doty.
Doty testified on the stand he didn't touch the 7-year-old sexually but was using "calming techniques," like rubbing the child's hair while the child's head was in Doty's lap and bouncing the child on his knee. Doty said he and the child were "messing around" on the school bus, which was why there were separated.
"I was bouncing him on my knee like a kid," Doty testified.
Doty said this didn't happen often and he just wanted to calm the child down. Doty also testified he and the 7-year-old had been riding the bus together since December 2024.
"Sometimes, when I got on the bus, (the child) would lean out the seat and smile at me and say hello," Doty said in court.
The jury never heard from the 7-year-old, but the prosecution argued the bus video "speaks for itself."
"Landon’s conduct as you saw in the video was calculated, deliberate and intentional," Jennings County Prosecutor Brian Belding said.
Doty's Grandmother, Ethel Doty, was in disbelief about her grandson's verdict. She felt the video shown to the jury didn't represent what Doty was found guilty of doing. She said her grandson viewed himself as a caretaker to the 7-year-old.
"He was taking care of the kid," Ethel Doty said. "He would try to make him happy."
The family of the 7-year-old said he was left with permanent injuries. A civil suit was filed by the family's attorneys and alleges that the Jennings County School Corporation acted with gross negligence, violated the child's civil rights and caused permanent harm, reported by Fox59.
A long-time court officer is quoted in the Probable Cause Affidavit as saying Doty's alleged actions are considered so heinous that he is beyond rehabilitation under the juvenile justice system. That officer described Doty "as a predator" who knew what he was doing was wrong, according to previous WDRB reporting.
Doty will be sentenced at a later date. His grandmother said she plans to appeal the verdict.
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