MIAMISBURG — “I didn’t really know what was happening, I just knew that it was really wrong.”
That’s how a former Miamisburg student remembers a day in 2014 in the office of her school counselor, now-former Miamisburg City Schools employee Bradley Buzzell.
The student, now 19, who asked the I-Team not to share her name to protect her privacy, said Buzzell showed her some yoga-like stretches after she complained of a sore shoulder.
But what happened next, she said, surprised her.
“He walked up behind me and he grabbed on to my hips and he said, ‘I’m going to hold you to make sure you don’t fall forward,’ and I immediately knew that … that was a little odd,” she told the I-Team’s Sean Cudahy, noting that she could feel Buzzell was aroused.
“I just couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move, I didn’t say anything, it felt like forever,” she said. “I just immediately wanted to get out of that situation.”
The former student said she left Buzzell’s office shortly after, breaking down into tears moments later.
Six years later, with Buzzell never facing charges for that alleged incident, she contacted News Center 7 after learning of his arrest this week on charges of voyeurism, possession of criminal tools, and unauthorized use of property for what Miamisburg prosecutors said happened this year. Buzzell has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Miamisburg Municipal Court documents accuse Buzzell of taking inappropriate videos of teenage girls stretching in his office in September 2020, and of performing a sex act on himself while alone in his office.
According to Miamisburg City Schools, Buzzell resigned Sept. 30.
The I-Team began asking questions after learning of the former student’s accusations against Buzzell, wanting to know what police and school leaders knew of the 2014 alleged incident – six years before the alleged offenses that landed him with his current charges.
The I-Team requested any past police reports involving Buzzell, and received a report from a reported Feb. 2014 incident with the names redacted. The report is for alleged “inappropriate touching of a student by a staff member,” with the listed address of the incident, Miamisburg Middle School. The report notes the case was “closed.”
The former student explained what she believes happened.
“They couldn’t really do much about it because there was no audio, no video and no witnesses…and they couldn’t prove intent, so…it kind of just disappeared,” she said, adding that as the case was closed, school leaders asked her not to discuss the case.
“I felt so swept under the rug. Like what happened to me didn’t matter,” she said.
The I-Team also reached out to Miamisburg Schools Friday about the former student’s accusations.
In a statement, superintendent Laura Blessing, who took over the position this summer and was not with the district before 2020, acknowledged, “Mr. Buzzell was placed on administrative leave in February 2014 after a student’s family contacted Children Services and Miamisburg Police with allegations of misconduct.” Blessing went on to say, “Children Services and the police conducted an investigation, concluded that the claims were unsubstantiated and closed the case. Based on the outcome of those investigations, the District returned Mr. Buzzell to his duties.”
Blessing added the district has not been aware of other issues involving Buzzell since that 2014 report.
The I-Team also contacted Patrick Mulligan, attorney for Buzzell Friday. After first saying, ""I’m thinking it must be a slow news day if you’re interested in a case involving misdemeanors," referencing the current charges Buzzell is facing, Mulligan went on to say, “We’re going to stand on our not guilty plea, we’re very comfortable with that, and we look forward to our day in court.”
More than six years later, the former student, now 19, told the I-Team she felt the impact of what she said happened that day in 2014 for a long time.
“The night terrors were pretty graphic,” she said. “I would be asleep and I would have dreams about him. And that went on for years.”
The I-Team asked how she felt learning of Buzzell’s arrest.
“I’m just glad he’s finally been caught in some way,” she said. “Light’s been shined on this.”
Cox Media Group
