School bus driver sexually assaulted 13-year-old on school route, New York officials say

A New York school bus driver is accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl while driving her to and from school, according to court documents.

Officials say the driver, Tomas Rosario, 74, of Rochester sexually assaulted the girl while the two were alone in a school van and tried to solicit inappropriate pictures from her, according to a criminal complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York.

Rosario’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment from McClatchy News.

Officers with the Rochester Police Department received a report of sexual assault of a minor on March 11, according to the complaint.

The 13-year-old girl told police that her bus driver, later identified as Rosario, had touched her inappropriately, the complaint says. Investigators later obtained surveillance footage from the school van that they say captured the incidents.

The video shows that, after picking the minor up for school on the morning of March 10, Rosario began to ask her inappropriate questions ”regarding her dating status and what sexual activity she engages in,” according to court documents.

He then drove the girl past a home that he said was his and told her that if she ever wanted to skip school, she could call him, according to court documents. He also told her that he could show her his penis, court documents say.

Later that afternoon when he picked her up from school, Rosario handed her a piece of paper that he said had his number on it, the complaint says. He again started to discuss sexual activities with her and ”directed (her) to do something sexually inappropriate,” officials say.

He also asked her to take an inappropriate picture of herself, court documents say, and send it to him.

The footage then shows Rosario inappropriately touching the girl several times, court document say.

Rosario told the girl multiple times not to tell anyone about what happened or he could “have a big problem,” the complaint says.

Before dropping her off outside her home, Rosario told the girl that he would pick her up the next day and take her to his house, the complaint says.

The following day, Rosario saw the girl at a Price Rite supermarket, approached her and again told her not to say anything about what happened, the document says. The interaction was recorded on security cameras inside the supermarket.

Investigators interviewed Rosario in early April and obtained a warrant to search his cellphone where they found a video depicting child pornography, court documents say.

Rosario faces charges of attempted receipt of child pornography, possession of child pornography, and attempted tampering with a witness, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.

This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 6:10 PM with the headline "School bus driver sexually assaulted 13-year-old on school route, New York officials say."