School bus driver in sex case out on $20,000 bond

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By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Fulton County school bus driver accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student was released from jail Thursday night on $20,000 bond, jail officials said.

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Jacqueline Connally, (center) flanked by public defender Anna Kurien and Fulton deputy J.E. Davis, made her first appearance in court on Thursday.

John Spink, jspink@ajc.com, AJC Jacqueline Connally, (center) flanked by public defender Anna Kurien and Fulton deputy J.E. Davis, made her first appearance in court on Thursday.

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John Spink, jspink@ajc.com Public defender Anna Kurien (left) speaks with Jacqueline Connally's mother Thursday after the hearing.

School bus driver arrested in sex case

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Jacqueline Connally, 22, was arrested Wednesday night at her home in Union City, according to Allison Toller, spokeswoman for the school district. She had been charged with sexual battery, but the charge was changed to sexual assault by Fulton Magistrate Judge James Altman during a hearing late Thursday morning at the Fulton County Jail.

Altman said the felony sexual assault charge was lodged against Connally because she held a supervisory position over the student as a bus driver.

In addition to setting the bond at $20,000, Altman ordered that Connally have no unsupervised contact with anyone under age 18. A preliminary hearing for Connally was scheduled for Nov. 12 in Fulton Superior Court.

Connally, in her second year as a driver for Fulton, was fired after the school district learned of her previous relationship with a male student who rode her bus.

The male student attends Langston Hughes High School in Fairburn. Another student told school personnel about the relationship, Toller said.

The boy, who is 17 now, was 16 at the time of the relationship and Connally was 21.

The age of consent in Georgia is 16, but state law says a person can be charged with a sex crime if he or she has supervisory or disciplinary authority over the person involved in the relationship.

The school system also contacted DFCS.

Staff writer Marcus K. Garner contributed to this article.