Child finds opened condom on school bus

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) - Emma Thorne's daughter, Zimena, enjoys riding the bus home from school every day, but Monday when the bus pulled up, Emma noticed something odd.

"When [Zimena] got off the bus, she just thought it was a balloon. She was blowing in it," Thorne said.

What Thorne found in her daughter's mouth was not a balloon, but an unwrapped condom Zimena's 7-year-old brother said he found on their school bus seat.

"I told the bus driver, 'What is this?' She looked at me and she smiled and stated clearly, 'I don't know where this come from. It did not come from this bus,' and I stated clearly to her, 'It had to come from this bus or the school.'"

With condom in hand, Thorne took her children to the hospital for testing.

"They have to do different types of cultures and lab work to make sure nothing was positive, nothing was going into it. Test TB, hepatitis B, hepatitis C," Thorne said.

Thorne says she is furious her children are going through this.

"The bus was never checked properly and the bus driver is pointing the finger at the school and the school is pointing the finger at the bus driver. This should never have to happen to any child," Thorne said.

A spokesperson for Park View Elementary School tells WAVY.com the assistant principal and head of transportation met with Thorne Tuesday morning and told her "they would be reviewing the [surveillance] tape to make sure the bus driver followed procedure."

The spokesperson went on to say that the administrators wanted to "see what the children did with the condom."

Thorne says she will only be pleased with one result for the bus driver.

"The young lady needs to be fired," Thorne said.

It is still unclear if the condom was used. Thorne says she expects bloodwork results by the end of the week.

WAVY.com requested a copy of the bus video from the school and was told officials are looking into the request.