Child Abuse: Bus driver gets 160 years for filming his sexual abuse of disabled kids

U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of New Hampshire

CONCORD, NH—John Allen Wright, 46, of Milton New Hampshire, appeared in U.S. District Court today and was sentenced to 160 years in prison, the maximum penalty allowed, after pleading guilty to five counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John P. Kacavas.

In February 2011, a member of New Hampshire’s Internet Crimes Against Children (NH ICAC) Task Force initiated an undercover investigation to locate and identify individuals possessing and trading images of child pornography through file-sharing networks. Information obtained as a result of the investigation led to the issuance of a search warrant for Wright’s residence in Milton. In the course of the search, computers and peripherals were seized and forensic examination revealed several videos depicting Wright sexually assaulting minor children who were passengers aboard his school bus. The children, some of whom were completely non-verbal, suffered from a variety of disabilities.

The initial search of Wright’s computer also revealed thousands of child sexual assault images that had been downloaded from the Internet. A subsequent federal search warrant yielded more evidence linking Wright to the production of the videos. The defendant has been in custody since his indictment in October 2011. He entered guilty pleas to all counts in the indictment in September of last year.

U.S. Attorney Kacavas stated: “This case represents yet another example of our resolve to eradicate the threat to our children posed by predators like the defendant. While a sentence of this duration is beyond man’s capacity to serve, justice for the young victims and a just punishment for this defendant are beyond our capacity to achieve. Therefore, only the maximum possible punishment authorized by law is appropriate and like-minded individuals who seek to prey on our children be warned.”

U.S. Attorney Kacavas would like to thank the NH ICAC Task Force; the FBI; the Rochester, New London, and Dover Police Departments in New Hampshire; The Strafford County (New Hampshire) U.S. Attorney’s Office; and the Kittery (Maine) Police Department, all of whom contributed valuable time and effort to this investigation and prosecution.

This case was prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.