A former school bus driver in Rochester, New York, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for attempting to receive child pornography. Tomas Rosario, 76, was also ordered to serve seven years of supervised release following his prison term. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan K. McGuire, Rosario worked as a school bus driver in Monroe County. On March 11, 2022, he transported a 13-year-old student alone on his bus and engaged her in personal and sexually explicit conversation during the ride, including asking if she had ever engaged in sexual conduct with her boyfriend. Later that day, he again picked up the victim from school and continued the explicit conversation before subjecting her to sexual contact.
Rosario gave the victim his phone number, showed her his home, and encouraged her to call or visit if she wanted to skip school. These actions were recorded by the bus surveillance system. At one point, Rosario instructed the victim to take sexually explicit photos of herself and send them to him.
The following day at a convenience store, Rosario warned the victim not to tell anyone about what had happened; this encounter was captured on store security cameras.
"The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation by the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Police Chief David Smith, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force, under the direction of Acting Agent-in-Charge Mark Grimm," according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo.
