Former Fresno school bus driver gets less-than-max sentence in child molestation case
Jeffrey Sipes, the former Fresno Unified bus driver convicted of child molestation and child pornography, was sentenced Friday to 24 years and eight months in prison.
Prosecutor Kaitlin Drake wanted Sipes locked up for the maximum of 32 years and eight months, saying he committed a horrible crime that has left his victim with a lifetime of pain.
Sipes’ defense attorney Eric Schweitzer argued for leniency. He told the court the 57-year-old Sipes does not have a criminal record, is well thought of in the community and can potentially be rehabilitated.
Judge Gary D. Hoff took some of the mitigating factors into account, including Sipes’ lack of criminal history, his age and the probation department’s report considering him a low risk for re-offending. Hoff sentenced him to the middle term of 24 years and eight months.
Sipes spoke briefly, saying he wanted to apologize to those he has hurt and for the things he has done.
“I feel a lot of remorse,” he said. “And I am ready to get some counseling.”
The former bus driver was arrested in 2017 after police received a tip from the federal Internet Crimes against Children task force that he was receiving emails containing graphic photos of underage children.
During the investigation police also received information that Sipes may have molested a child from the time she was 4 years old until age 15.
Sipes, who worked as a bus driver for nearly 20 years, spending most of his career at Fresno Unified, was charged with several felonies, including lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 14 years old, rape and sexual penetration with a foreign object.
During the trial, his attorney argued that the child molestation charges were false and the work of a vengeful ex-wife trying to get back at her former husband.
But on Feb. 26 Judge Hoff found Sipes guilty of two counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor, plus rape and sexual penetration with a foreign object. Sipes also pleaded no contest to two counts of child pornography.
At Sipes’ sentencing Friday, prosecutor Drake argued that there was never any evidence that the victim was not telling the truth.
“It’s obvious he tormented her throughout her childhood through continued sexual and physical abuse,” Drake said. “And after watching the victim testify, despite years of trying to suppress those memories she will carry that pain with her forever.”
This story was originally published July 31, 2020 at 12:30 PM.
