Former bus driver gets 9 years in federal prison for stalking child

Shawne Wickham, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
Updated ·3 min read

Mar. 28—A former school bus driver from Maine was sentenced Thursday to nine years in federal prison for stalking an 8-year-old Greenland boy who rode his bus in 2022.

Michael Chick, 40, of Eliot, Maine, pleaded guilty last month in U.S. District Court in Concord to one count of cyberstalking, for targeting the little boy and his family over the course of several months, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's office, which prosecuted the case.

Chick drove for First Student, an Ohio-based company that provides school bus services in many New Hampshire districts, including Greenland.

Federal authorities said the former bus driver told the child "elaborate lies about a secret organization that would harm (him) ... and his family" unless he complied with certain demands. Chick gave the boy several cellphones and told the boy to call him when he was alone and send photos of himself and his underwear.

Unbeknownst to the boy and his family, the release said, "Chick also followed and photographed them in public, placed GPS tracking devices on their vehicles, made surreptitious recordings ... on the school bus, and went to the family's home in the middle of the night, even taking photographs of the inside of their home through the windows," the news release said.

"Michael Chick's crimes caused unimaginable pain and fear" for the boy and his family, U.S. Attorney Jane Young said in a statement. "It is only because of their bravery and diligence that the defendant's crimes were uncovered."

"While Michael Chick's incarceration will not ease the trauma he inflicted, it will hopefully provide some measure of justice for the (boy) and his family," she said.

According to authorities, Chick began stalking the boy in March 2022, giving him candy and small toys. Investigators found images and videos of the child and his family on Chick's cellphone, recorded in public locations, including a retail store, sporting events and a theme park.

Chick used the information he collected "to further harass and intimidate" the child, manipulating him into believing that the "organization" was watching and following him, officials said in the news release.

School officials in Greenland became aware of concerns about the driver's behavior with the student in April 2022. The bus company subsequently moved Chick to a different bus route, and the school resource officer told the driver to have no contact with the child and his family, according to previous information provided by authorities.

Chick was arrested that August and pleaded guilty last June.

In a court hearing in 2022, a prosecutor read a letter from the boy's parents. "We will forever be scarred by this man's actions," they wrote.

After they found out about Chick's stalking behavior, the family had first installed a home security system and later moved, prosecutors said in court filings. "We are sick with worry that he will ever find access to our son again," the parents wrote.

The federal investigation into the case was led by Homeland Security Investigations. Michael J. Krol, special agent in charge for HSI in New England said in a statement, "Michael Chick used his access to children as a bus driver to manipulate a child, striking fear across multiple communities ... We cannot undo the pain Chick inflicted but we hope the end of this case marks a chance for a new beginning for those he harmed and a time to heal."