John Allen Wright, of Milton, N.H., admitted sexually abusing special-needs children aboard his school bus and recording some of the attacks.(Photo: New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force)
By Michael Winter, USA TODAY
A 46-year-old former New Hampshire school bus driver was sentenced
Friday to 160 years in federal prison for sexually abusing special-needs
children and recording some of the attacks.
John Wright, of Milton, N.H., was indicted
in October 2011 and pleaded guilty last September to five counts of
sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child
pornography.
He worked
for the Provider bus service in Strafford County, Rockingham County and
Kittery, Maine, since 2008. Before than, he drove bus for the Milton
schools for four years.
Wright was arrested
in September 2011 during an undercover investigation of people trading
child pornography on file-sharing networks. Authorities found several
videos showing Wright sexually assaulting children who "suffered a
variety of disabilities," some of whom were "completely non-verbal."
Wright
recorded some attacks using a camera attached to his glasses. Police
also found and estimated 10,000 images of child pornography on Wright's
computer.
"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," U.S. Attorney
John Kacavas said in a statement.
"Therefore, only the maximum possible punishment authorized by law is
appropriate and like-minded individuals who seek to prey on our children
be warned."
In light of the sentence, state charges are expected to be dropped.