Charge: Groping caregiver called abuse 'fun' for disabled girl Police say man caught on camera feeling up girl on Bothell school bus

Bothell High School, pictured in a school district photo. Bothell High School, pictured in a school district photo. Photo: BHS Photo: BHS Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Charge: Groping caregiver called abuse 'fun' for disabled girl 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

A Bellevue man accused of sexually assaulting a girl with developmental delays aboard a special-needs school bus now faces a felony charge.

King County prosecutors claim paid caregiver Ivo Atanasov grabbed the teen girl’s breasts while the Northshore School District bus driver was helping another student off the bus at a Bothell home. Atanasov, 63, is alleged to have told police he thought the abuse was “fun” for the girl.

“It was my idea for fun,” Atanasov told investigators, according to charging papers. “Fun for her.”

Writing the court, a Bothell Police Department detective said a camera aboard the bus recorded the assault. Atanasov, who has been charged with indecent liberties, had been hired to care for another child on the bus.

“The defendant’s behavior of groping a developmentally disabled girl on the bus is abhorrent and brazen,” Senior Deputy Prosecutor Carla Carlstrom said in court documents. “The fact that he is a caregiver for a female who is extremely disabled and cannot communicate verbally is also extremely concerning for possible abuse.”

According to charging papers, Atanasov boarded the bus after it stopped in to unload the girl he was paid to help. He is alleged to have groped the 17-year-old as the bus driver was helping the other girl off the bus.

Crying and upset, the girl reported the incident immediately, the Bothell detective said in charging papers. Atanasov was identified as a suspect shortly thereafter and contacted by police.

Atanasov initially claimed he was cleaning crumbs off the girl before telling police he brushed her chest to be playful and funny, the detective told the court. Video of the incident contradicted those claims, the detective said, and showed Atanasov grabbing the girl’s breasts while looking out for the bus driver.

Confronted with the video, Atanasov admitted to groping the girl but claimed the contact wasn’t inappropriate or wrong, the detective said in court papers.

“He stated this was his idea of fun for her,” the detective continued.

The detective noted that the girl functions at the level of an elementary school-age child and needs extensive help in her schooling.

Initially jailed, Atanasov was released after posting bond on $100,000 bail. He is expected to be arraigned in coming days.

Seattlepi.com reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.