Bus monitor Karen Klein gets viral abuse video cash fund

A school bus monitor verbally abused by New York students has seen an internet campaign to send her on holiday raise more than $500,000 (£321,000).

A video of the taunting has gone viral with more than 1.5 million views.

Karen Klein, 68, says she does not want those involved charged, but would like them to be "a little more respectful".

The parents of the four boys involved are co-operating and say their children will be punished, local police Captain Steve Chatterton told reporters.

He said an investigation was underway, but that the boys' behaviour had not yet been shown to rise to the level of a crime.

Death threats

Capt Chatterton also warned against vigilante justice as it emerged his officers have been patrolling near the homes of the children accused of taunting Mrs Klein, in a suburb of Rochester, New York state.

One of the boys has received more than 1,000 death threats.

The online fund was set up by "Max S" on the crowdfunding website IndieGoGo, after seeing the video on YouTube.

The video shows Mrs Klein trying to ignore a litany of insults by 12- and-13-year-olds. The barbs include profanities, physical ridicule, taunts and her being told to shut up.

Some ask what her address is, telling her they want to steal from her and perform sexual acts.

One boy tells her she does not have family as "they all killed themselves because they didn't want to be near you".

The insult was particularly painful because Mrs Klein's son killed himself 10 years ago.

The school district in Greece, New York state, says it may take disciplinary action. At least two other similar videos involving students taunting the bus monitor have been posted online.

"We have discovered other similar videos on YouTube and are working to identify all of the students involved," a statement posted on the district's website said.

Mrs Klein, a grandmother of eight, said she was "amazed" at the support she had received.

"I've got these nice letters, emails, Facebook messages," she told NBC. "It's like, wow, there's a whole world out there that I didn't know. It's really awesome."

On Thursday, CNN obtained written apologies from two boys to read to Mrs Klein on-air.

"I feel really bad about what I did," said one of the notes, attributed to a boy named Wesley.

"I wish I had never done those things. If that had happened to someone in my family, like my mother or grandmother, I would be really mad at the people who did that to them."

Mrs Klein said she hoped she would receive written apologies directly from the boys.