School bus driver sentenced
Pleaded guilty to cyberstalking 8-year-old
CONCORD — Former school bus driver Michael Chick was sentenced Thursday to nine years in prison for cyberstalking an 8-year-old boy who was attending Greenland Central School.
Chick, 40, of Eliot, Maine, had previously agreed to the prison time in a plea deal announced in January. He committed the crime in 2022 while he was employed by the First Student bus company. An initial plea deal for six years in prison was rejected last year by U.S. District of New Hampshire Chief Judge Landya McCafferty.
Chick pleaded guilty to one count of cyberstalking, according to Jane Young, U.S. attorney for New Hampshire. The sentence also includes three years of supervised release.
“Michael Chick's crimes caused unimaginable pain and fear for the survivor and his family. It is only because of their bravery and diligence that the defendant's crimes were uncovered,” Young said in a prepared statement Thursday. “While Michael Chick's incarceration will not erase the trauma he inflicted, it will hopefully provide some measure of justice for the survivor and his family.”
Details of cyberstalking Greenland child
Authorities' forensic examinations of Chick's cell phone found he had images and videos of the child and his family he took at retail stores, theme parks, sporting events and on the school bus., Young said.
Chick told the 8-year-old boy "elaborate lies about a secret organization that would harm the survivor and his family unless the survivor complied with certain demands," according to a press release issued by Young that sums up accusations in court documents. "Chick harassed and intimidated the survivor, telling him that he would be kidnapped and tortured and his family murdered if he did not do as 'the organization'” directed. Chick gave the survivor several cell phones, directing the survivor to call Chick on the phones when he was alone."
According to Young, Chick also followed and photographed the boy and his family without their knowledge, photographing them in public placed and putting GPS tracking devices on their vehicles. He also made recordings of the boy on the school bus, went to their home in overnight hours and took photographs of them through windows.