Former school bus driver charged with 34 counts of corrupting minor

A former Indiana County school bus driver is charged with 34 misdemeanor counts of corruption of minors after he allegedly had an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old student.

William Samuel Cassatt Jr., 30, of Homer City, is charged with 34 counts, the number of times prosecutors said he either sexually touched or messaged the teenager.

Officials said Cassatt and teen met on the school bus, when he was her bus driver. The two told police they exchanged numbers on the bus, then developed a relationship that lasted from May to July 2016.

“A bus driver had tried to engage a student to babysit (and) as the relationship progressed (to) more than being a babysitter … it led to incidents of sexual touching,” said District Attorney Patrick Dougherty. “It’s against the law, especially when you add the layer of this was a school bus employee who transported this child to and from school every day.”

Cassatt was a bus driver for the United School District last year. Investigators said no inappropriate contact happened on the bus, but rather at Cassatt’s house or in his car.

United School District contracts its bus services through Tri-County Transportation. Tri-County told Channel 11 that Cassatt has not been employed with the transportation company since June 2016.

The teen’s father contacted state police in July 2016 about the alleged inappropriate relationship.

Cassatt is not in jail and the charges will be sent to him by mail. He does not have a previous criminal record.

Stay with Channel 11 News and WPXI.com for continuing coverage.

Cox Media Group