School bus driver seen molesting girl on ride home gets prison in NY, feds say
A former New York school bus driver was handed a 10-year prison sentence over asking for sexually explicit photos from a 13-year-old girl who officials said he groomed and repeatedly molested while driving her to and from school, federal prosecutors said.
A security camera inside the school bus driven by Tomas Rosario, 76, of Rochester, on March 10, 2022, captured the grooming and sexual assaults, according to court documents.
In a sentencing memorandum filed by the government, Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan K. McGuire, of the Western District of New York, denounced Rosario’s actions as “abhorrent and harmful,” as well as “shockingly brazen.”
“He molested this little girl on a public street, with other cars driving by,” McGuire, who prosecuted the case, wrote in the filing. “And he did it right in front of a security camera.”
Rosario was sentenced on a charge of attempting to receive child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of New York said in an Aug. 12 news release.
His court-appointed federal public defender, Sonya A. Zoghlin, did not immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment.
In a sentencing memo filed Aug. 6 on Rosario’s behalf, Zoghlin wrote that Rosario “has spent the last three years in jail, deeply ashamed and remorseful for the crime he committed.”
On the drive to school in Monroe County, where Rochester is located, the morning of March 10, 2022, prosecutors said Rosario let the girl sit in the front seat of the school bus.
Rosario was alone with the teen, as “the bus monitor who usually accompanied them was out that day,” according to the government’s sentencing memo.
Rosario initiated a sexually explicit conversation with the girl and asked her about whether she had ever taken part in sex acts with a boyfriend, prosecutors said.
After school ended, Rosario drove her home and let her sit in the front seat again, according to prosecutors.
During the ride, prosecutors said “he continued to engage in sexually explicit conversation with the victim and ultimately subjected her to instances of sexual contact.”
The sexual molestation and Rosario’s grooming of the girl was in full view of the bus’ security camera, the sentencing memo says. The security footage was presented to the court as evidence.
Rosario also gave the girl his phone number, showed her where he lived and “encouraged (her) to call and visit if she ever wanted to skip school,” according to prosecutors.
The next day, Rosario saw the girl inside a convenience store, as seen in store surveillance footage, prosecutors said.
Rosario “warned her not to tell anyone what he had done the day before,” prosecutors said.
Rosario, who was also sentenced to seven years of supervised release after prison, was investigated by the Rochester Police Department and the FBI’s Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In a letter to the court, according to his attorney, Rosario “expressed his deep shame and remorse for the crime he committed, which he described as ‘the biggest disgrace of my life.’”
“The disgrace that lives in me 24/7 and doesn’t let me live or sleep in this institution that with shame I call jail…. I am ashamed and positive that something like this will never happen again. I’m so sorry for the damage I’ve caused,” Rosario’s letter said, in part.
Concerns or suspicions about child sexual exploitation can be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline online or by calling 1-800-843-5678.
This story was originally published August 13, 2025 at 3:58 PM with the headline "School bus driver seen molesting girl on ride home gets prison in NY, feds say."
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