Mom denies slapping daughter’s bully on bus

TOMS RIVER, N.J. – The mother of a 9-year-old girl who says she was bullied said Sunday that she boarded a school bus to confront one of her daughter’s tormenters but denied slapping anyone despite being charged with assault.

Rebecca Sardoni said she and her mother boarded a school bus Friday morning bound for East Dover Elementary and asked for a boy they claimed had been harassing her daughter on the bus. Several students on the bus said Rebecca Sardoni then cursed at the boy and slapped him and a boy seated next to him while her mother yelled at the two boys, Toms River police Chief Michael G. Mastronardy said.

Rebecca Sardoni, 28, of Toms River, and her mother, 51-year-old Stephanie Sardoni, of Beachwood, were arrested Friday and released on summonses. Rebecca Sardoni is charged with simple assault, criminal trespass and making terroristic threats. Stephanie Sardoni is charged with criminal trespass.

Rebecca Sardoni told the Associated Press that she regretted boarding the bus, but she denied touching or hitting anyone.

She said she took matters into her own hands after school officials ignored complaints that her daughter had been verbally and physically bullied by four students.

The boys were treated for cuts to their mouths. One of the boys was taken by his parents to a hospital for treatment of a neck injury, Mastronardy said.