Former school bus driver pleads guilty in second sex assault case
A former school bus driver serving time in one sexual assault case pleaded guilty to another in Fayette County Court on Thursday, potentially tacking on another eight years to his sentence.
Jason Freeland, 31, of North Union Township entered a guilty plea before Senior Judge Gerald R. Solomon to rape, sexual assault and corruption of minors for raping a 13-year-old girl in 2011 at a location in North Union Township.
The victim testified previously that in November of that year, Freeland, who outweighed her at the time by about 200 pounds, forcibly raped her.
The Herald-Standard does not identify victims in sex assault cases.
The plea agreement calls for a four- to eight-year sentence to run consecutively with a two- to four-year sentence from a 2012 case, in which he sexually assaulted a mentally challenged 16-year-old girl on the school bus he drove and then took her back to school.
The assault against the 13-year-old occurred before Freeland was arrested for assaulting the 16-year-old, but the younger victim did not come forward until last year. She testified previously that Freeland said he would tell her mother she had sex with someone else if she spoke out.
Freeland was ordered to undergo an evaluation from the state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board. He asked to have his sentencing and hearing to determine if he is a sexually violent predator be held by video conference. A date and time for that hearing has not yet been set.