School Bus Driver Pleads Guilty To Molestation
STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) -- A substitute Lodi school bus driver has pleaded guilty to molesting an 8-year-old special needs student that authorities say was captured on a surveillance video.
San Joaquin County prosecutors say Richard Evans accepted a plea deal to a 25-year, four-month sentence in state prison on Wednesday.
The Stockton Record reports that as part of the deal, Evans must register as a convicted sex offender and will be on parole for 20 years following his release.
A police detective testified during Evans' preliminary hearing in February that the sexual abuse happened in November after the 59-year-old Evans picked up the Stockton third-grader 15 minutes early and then stopped the bus for "a game of show-and-tell."
The girl told her parents what had happened and they contacted authorities.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled on July 25.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
