GREENLAND — An Eliot, Maine, man, who worked as a school bus driver for First Student, is facing federal charges alleging he threatened and stalked an 8-year-old child attending Greenland Central School in New Hampshire.
Michael Chick, 39, is facing federal interstate stalking charges, alleging he crossed state lines to threaten a child and the child’s family, according to Jane Young, US attorney for New Hampshire.
Court documents allege Chick had given the boy TracFones with instructions to take inappropriate photographs of himself, placed GPS tracking devices on his parents’ vehicles to track if they went to the police, and made multiple visits to the family’s home at night. When Greenland police investigated, they found the trackers still active, exactly where Chick told police they were located, according to authorities.
Prosecutor: Bus driver gave detailed threats against family, asked boy for photos
The boy told investigators Chick used a story about a group of criminals he called “The Team” who would kill his family, kidnap him and torture him if he did not comply with their demands, which included taking photographs and videos of himself.
Footage and audio taken inside the bus shows conversations between the boy and Chick, instructing the boy to hide the phone, lie about where he got it, and take the phone into the bathroom with him at school to take photos of himself, according to court documents.
During the investigation, Chick admitted to threatening the Greenland boy during their conversations on the bus, giving him three different TracFones, putting a printed threatening note on his lap on the bus and asking the boy to read it, having photos of the Greenland boy in public settings, and placement trackers.
During a search of Chick’s car, investigators said they located a TracFone, a digital camera, duct tape, rubber gloves, sweet (candy) liquor, candy, children’s clothing (including underwear), children’s toys, a magnetic GPS vehicle tracker along with his cell phone. Similar items were found in his room where he lived. At Chick’s residence, surveillance cameras, TracFones, large plastic bags of children’s underwear, and other evidence were found, authorities allege.
