Issaquah school bus driver suspected of child rape pleads not guilty

Additional count of first-degree child molestation added.

Issaquah Schools bus driver Hakim Fareed, 47, has pleaded not guilty to allegations that he raped and molested a child he was related to. Since his arrest, court information has been amended to include that during police interviews, another child (also a relative) made similar claims against the suspect.

The defendant’s arrest came after an 11-year-old relative told police he was sexually abused over a period of years, and started when he was about 9. The second victim also is 11. Fareed is from Ohio, single, and has adopted four children. The children range in age from 9-14 years old.

The newly added probable cause statement says that an Issaquah sergeant interviewed the suspect’s second victim in late September, following Fareed’s Sept. 16 arrest. The second victim told police of incidents that happened in Ohio and Washington. The boy was about 9 the first time the crime occurred.

Due to the new information, an additional count of child molestation in the first degree was tacked on, the King County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed. Fareed pleaded not guilty to the first-degree crimes of child rape and two counts of child molestation on Oct. 3 in King County Superior Court of Seattle.

Before his arrest, Fareed drove school buses for multiple schools in the Issaquah School District. During the last school year he would transport children attending Issaquah Middle School, Issaquah High School and Sunset Elementary. And for four days this school year, he drove students attending Apollo Elementary School and Issaquah Middle School.

Upon learning of the man’s arrest, the Issaquah School District put the driver on administrative leave and began pulling video footage recorded during his routes. As of Tuesday, Oct. 8, there was nothing suspect seen on any recording, said L. Michelle, the district’s executive director of communications. She added that Fareed remains on administrative leave.

A case setting hearing for Fareed is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Oct. 15.