Northmont schools got tip about bus driver years before many sex crimes allegedly committed

Northmont High School is located in Clayton. BRYANT BILLING/STAFF

Credit: Bryant Billing

Credit: Bryant Billing

Northmont High School is located in Clayton. BRYANT BILLING/STAFF

Records obtained by the Dayton Daily News show that Northmont City Schools and Englewood police officials reviewed a tip in 2021 that former school bus driver Matthew Hunt had engaged in inappropriate behavior with a high school student.

Police officials say an officer looked into the complaint, but couldn’t find enough evidence to pursue a full criminal investigation.

Hunt was charged this July with 82 felony crimes, including rape, sexual battery and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor — and 48 counts were for offenses that allegedly took place after the 2021 tip.

Four of Hunt’s alleged victims claim in a lawsuit that Northmont administrators failed to properly investigate Hunt’s potential misconduct and failed to protect students from foreseeable and preventable harm.

The 2021 email wasn’t the first time Hunt was accused of inappropriate interactions with students.

Hunt resigned from Vandalia-Butler City Schools in 2009 after he was accused of engaging in inappropriate communications with students. A note in his personnel file with Eaton Community Schools in 2011 suggests someone with the district learned about allegations that he might have had a sexually explicit relationship with a student at Vandalia-Butler City Schools.

Northmont High School is located in Clayton. BRYANT BILLING/STAFF

Credit: Bryant Billing

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Credit: Bryant Billing

A warning

In July, 49-year-old Hunt was indicted on 82 felony counts for allegedly sexually assaulting and abusing teenage boys.

The Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office said authorities have identified nine victims, who attended Northmont City Schools or who worked for Hunt’s pipe cleaning and servicing business.

The allegations date back to early 2002. Since the early 2000s, Hunt has worked as a bus driver for school districts including Northmont City Schools, Vandalia-Butler City Schools, Tri-County North School District, Eaton Community Schools, St. Christopher School, Milton-Union Exempted Village School District and Miami Valley Career Technology Center.

On Oct. 23, 2021, a now 27-year-old Lewisburg resident and former Tri-County North High School student sent an email to Northmont Superintendent Tony Thomas with a subject line that read “Matt Hunt.”

Matthew Hunt. Photo courtesy the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.

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In the email, the sender wrote that he learned that a bus driver in the Northmont district asked a 15-year-old boy if he “had gotten his dipstick wet” by his girlfriend. The sender wrote that Hunt took an interest in him while he was in high school, and the bus driver sent him messages and messaged his father out of the blue to say he was a good kid. The former Tri-County student said he had been to Hunt’s house to work on a bus he was cleaning.

The email reads, “Now, did he ever touch me? No (thankfully), however over the years and upon me graduating, the messages became more vulgar and inappropriate, and I was conditioned to believe that this man actually cared about my well being. As the messages got worse, I drew a lot of conclusions and the puzzle finally made sense.”

The tipster said Hunt tried to manipulate him into having inappropriate and sexual discussions, and Hunt only invited gay students over to help him.

Superintendent Thomas forwarded the email to Amy Sipes, the HR director of Northmont City Schools, who shared the message with Doug Hacker, Englewood’s school resource officer.

Hacker spoke to the author of the email and the Northmont school district’s director of operations, director of human resources and transportation supervisor, as well as Clayton police school resource officers who were assigned to the middle and high schools, said Englewood police Chief Corey Follick.

Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. talks during a news conference on Wednesday, July 30 at the prosecutor's office in downtown Dayton. Heck announced a former Northmont bus driver has been indicted on 82 counts related to sexual assault of teenage boys. BRYANT BILLING / STAFF

Credit: Bryant Billing

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Credit: Bryant Billing

The tipster confirmed that he had no sexual contact with Hunt, and he could not identify and he did not know of any other students who might have additional information or concerns about Hunt’s conduct, Follick said. Hacker never spoke to Hunt.

“No one reported any similar complaints pertaining to Matt Hunt at that time,” Follick told this news outlet. “Based on his preliminary investigation, officer Hacker had no allegations of suspicions of criminal violations that would yield further investigation or an offense report.”

Of the 82 felony charges filed against Hunt, 48 were for offenses that allegedly took place between June 2022 and May 2025.

Lawsuit claims wrongdoing

Four former Northmont students filed a civil complaint last month in U.S. District Court alleging that school district administrators did not properly screen Hunt before hiring him and they failed to investigate credible threats against the bus driver, including the complaint by the former Tri-County student.

The lawsuit says school officials put the victims in harm’s way with policies that allowed Hunt to “openly groom students on district property without consequence.” The lawsuit claims the district should have taken action to remove Hunt from having student contact.

The complaint also alleges another community member called the district multiple times to report that she believed Hunt was sexually abusing students.

Hunt was hired by Northmont and other area school districts after he resigned from Vandalia-Butler City Schools in 2009. Hunt resigned while facing potential discipline for allegedly having inappropriate conversations and contact with students, according to records obtained by the Dayton Daily News.

Hunt also went on to work at Eaton Community Schools where notes in his personnel file suggest that someone with the district in 2011 learned about allegations that Hunt “was having a sexually explicit relationship with a 14-year-old boy” while at Vandalia, records show.

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