A former New York school bus driver who admitted to sexually assaulting a 14-year-old who rode on his bus route received his sentence on April 25, according to local reports.
Three orders of protection were issued for him, and he was ordered not to be alone with anyone under the age of 17, it was reported.
In February, he pleaded guilty to third-degree rape.
“He'll be a felon for the rest of his life. He’s on the sex offender registry for a long time. Maybe not the rest of his life because of the level but this isn’t something that didn’t cause him pain and this isn’t something that didn’t have consequences,” said Eric Swartz, who served as Piche’s defense attorney.
The mother of the unnamed victim issued a statement, saying that she wishes Piche “would have received time in jail for the harm he caused to my child.”
“He took something from my daughter she will never get back and has caused her to struggle with depression and anxiety,” he continued.
The Watertown Daily Times reported that Judge James P. McClusky noted that he had no prior arrests. He said there was also only one victim.
Police said he met the 14-year-old through his job as a bus driver. The incident took place at his residence in Ridge Road.
Piche also was charged with endangering the welfare of a child by providing her with alcohol, according to the Daily Times.
Facts About Crime in the United States
Violent crime in the United States has fallen sharply over the past 25 years, according to both the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).Both studies are based on data up to and including 2017, the most recent year for which complete figures are available.