Bail was set at $1 million Friday for a Woodbury man charged with molesting six preschool girls on South Washington County school buses.
Harvey Theodore Kneifl appeared to nod and grin at someone in the Stillwater courtroom as he made his first court appearance since being charged Thursday.
The 70-year-old bus attendant, employed by the school district since 2012, didn’t enter a plea at Friday’s proceeding. He told Washington County District Judge Susan Miles that he was arranging to hire an attorney.
Parents of children named by their initials in the criminal complaint attended the hearing.
Prosecutor Tom Wedes, of the Washington County attorney’s office, asked the judge for $1 million in bail without conditions and $250,000 conditional bail, which Miles granted.
“The defendant preyed on children on the bus,” Wedes told the court. “They were placed in the trust of the defendant to make sure they were protected, to keep them safe, and he violated that trust.”
He also told the judge that he anticipated more victims coming forward.
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