An Eliot man, who was a school bus driver in New Hampshire, has been indicted after he allegedly stalked an 8-year-old boy and threatened the child’s family.
A federal grand jury indicted Michael Chick, 39, on one count of cyberstalking. Chick was arrested on Aug. 5. He is being detained pending trial.
Chick is accused of stalking and threatening a Greenland, New Hampshire, child who was on his school bus route.
The indictment alleges that Chick provided cellphones to the child and used them to communicate with the child after being warned to cease all contact.
Chick is also alleged to have placed GPS tracking devices on the parents’ vehicles and to have walked around the outside of the child’s home at night on numerous occasions.
Beginning on April 18, Chick allegedly began giving the boy and his sister gifts like candy and Pokemon toys, according to court documents.
When the children were absent from school, court documents say the bus driver left letters at their home, saying that he missed them.
In May, court documents allege Chick asked to attend the boy’s Little League game. The boy’s family was very upset and reported Chick to the school, asking that Chick be moved to another route.
Court documents go on to say that in July, the boy’s family found two cellphones that were given to him by Chick.
Investigators say Chick used the phones to contact the boy. Records show that there were 30 calls between Chick and the child within about a four-day span.
In July, a Homeland Security agent spotted Chick in the driveway of the boy’s home. Then investigators used a search warrant on his home in Eliot.
There police say they found multiple cellphones, surveillance cameras, GPS trackers that Chick allegedly admitted to placing on the cars that belong to the boy’s parents, a large Ziploc bag filled with children’s underwear and handwritten notes that investigators say were written like instructions.
Court documents say the notes instructed the boy to take pictures of himself in his underwear, as well as a “video of anything you would consider naughty.”
They also found a computer-generated note that said, “You had too many chances. This is not working. We are done [expletive] around. Make this happen now or the kid disappears.”
The New Hampshire attorney general issued a message to parents of children who rode the same bus that Chick was driving to come forward if they experienced similar allegations of harassment and exploitation. A hotline has been set up for parents or students who have had similar interactions with Chick to come forward. The number is 603-722-1751.
