North Texas school bus driver assistant accused of child grooming in Irving
A North Texas school bus driver assistant is facing a child grooming charge after a student reported inappropriate contact, police said.
The child told their parents that the assistant, 75-year-old Juan Gonzalez, inappropriately touched them on April 7, Irving police said in a news release on Thursday. The Irving Independent School District terminated Gonzalez’s employment on April 8, police said.
Based on the child’s report and additional electronic evidence, Gonzalez was arrested on April 9 and is being held in the Dallas County Jail on a $25,000 bond, the release stated.
Gonzalez worked for Irving ISD from February 2023 to April 2026. After interviewing him, investigators believe there may have been additional victims over that three-year period.
“Given the nature of his role as a substitute assistant working drop-off and pick-up on various routes, the Irving Police Department urges parents to speak with their children about appropriate and inappropriate contact to help determine whether their children may have been victims,” police said in the release.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Cloud at 972-721-3535 or by email at ECloud@IrvingTX.gov. Anonymous tips can also be submitted to IPDCrimeTips@IrvingTX.gov
Police applauds child for speaking up
Gonzalez’s duties included monitoring the safety of the children while on the school bus during transport. He worked during the morning drop-off and afternoon pickups of various bus routes throughout the district, Officer Maria Herring said in a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
Herring said he worked as a substitute, so he did not fill in on a particular bus route and was not assigned to any field trips.
“We understand that this might cause parents to be concerned, but at this time, we still want them to have those difficult conversations, whether your child rode the bus or not,” Herring said.
It is important that parents talk with their children about “what makes them uncomfortable, makes them feel safe, and how to properly report that information, whether that is to a friend, a teacher, a counselor or even the police,” Herring said.
Responding to a reporter’s question, Herring said that “a camera on the bus corroborated what the victim said during her outcry.”
“That child is very brave. As a young child, speaking up about something that an adult did can be very scary, and unfortunately, that adult is doing the wrong thing, and this child is doing the right thing,” Herring said. “So we just applaud that child for speaking up.”
Herring said she hopes that this child speaking is going to encourage other children to report about what could have happened on this bus.
Authorities do not yet have an exact number of potential victims, Herring said. The school district is reviewing about three years of transportation data to identify any children who may have been affected, she said.
The district has already notified parents whose children might have been on buses with Gonzalez and is continuing to share relevant information with both families and investigators, Herring added.
“There is someone who’s been placed in a position of trust and care for the safety of our kids on the buses. It is concerning to me that there is just one victim and potentially more,” Herring said.
This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 11:16 AM.