A bus assistant in the Irving Independent School District is accused of inappropriately touching an 8-year-old student, and police believe he may have targeted other children.
Juan Jose Gonzalez, 75, was arrested on a charge of child grooming, a third-degree felony.
According to a statement from the Irving Police Department, the student told her parents that a bus assistant inappropriately touched her on April 7.
Bus assistants generally monitor behavior and help special-needs students board and exit.
The student’s parents reported the incident to Irving ISD officials, who then notified police on April 8.
The police department’s Crimes Against Children Unit investigated and obtained a warrant for Gonzalez based on the girl’s statement and “additional electronic evidence.”
An arrest affidavit obtained by CBS News stated that surveillance video from inside the bus showed Gonzalez touching the girl’s leg five times, touching her hair, and adjusting the front of her skirt.
Gonzalez was arrested on April 9 and is being held in the Dallas County Jail. Bond is set at $25,000.
According to the police, Gonzalez is no longer employed by Irving ISD. He had worked for the district for three years, starting in February 2023.
Police warned that Gonzalez may have touched other students during that time.
Given the nature of his role as a substitute assistant working drop-off and pick-up on various routes, the Irving Police Department urges parents to speak with their children about appropriate and inappropriate contact to help determine whether their children may have been victims.
Irving ISD stated that a message was sent to the families of students who had been identified as having possibly come into contact with the bus assistant.
“We understand this news may be concerning. We encourage parents to talk with their children and remind them to report anything that makes them feel uncomfortable or unsafe,” the district stated.
Over the past few years, a growing number of Texas school employees—including bus drivers and monitors—have been accused of sex crimes involving students and other children.
- Arlington ISD bus driver Chima Nsi, then 21, was arrested in 2018 on a charge of improper relationship between educator and student, after bus surveillance video caught him soliciting a 17-year-old male student for sex. Nsi was released on probation, but he was arrested last month and is now being held without bond in the Tarrant County Jail.
- Prosper ISD bus driver Frank Paniagua, 61, was arrested in May 2022 for systematically molesting two elementary girls on his bus more than 100 times during the school year. His crimes were also caught on surveillance video, but district officials never notified families. Instead, parents learned about the sex abuse months later, from media reports about a lawsuit filed by the girls’ parents.
- Elgin ISD school bus driver Jimmy Kerlin was fired in 2023 for grooming behavior toward an 11-year-old girl.
- Socorro ISD bus driver Rodolfo Laureano III, 52, was arrested in 2024 for indecency with a child by contact after groping a 10-year-old female student, which was captured on bus surveillance video.
In 2025:
- Celina ISD bus monitor Timothy Adams, 75, was arrested on charges of indecency with a child by sexual contact and improper relationship between educator and student over alleged “inappropriate contact” with a female student.
- Navarro ISD bus driver Michael Morrish, 78, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to possessing more than 500 CSAM images showing victims as young as infants.
- Academy ISD bus driver William Blackburn, 47, was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child and other crimes related to his alleged months of abusing a female student starting when the girl was 13.
- Leander ISD bus monitor Steven Lackey, 70, was charged with two counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact.
- Cleveland ISD bus driver Jonathan Cranfill, 38, was charged with sexual assault of a child.
Thousands of school employees have been reported to the Texas Education Agency for sexual misconduct since the state began keeping organized records in 2021.
