UTICA -- A Utica City School District bus driver is accused of distributing and possessing child pornography.
28-year-old David McMurray, of Utica, was arrested Wednesday. His arrest is a result of Operation Predator, a nationwide initiative to protect children from sexual predators.
"Child pornography is the permanent record of a child being sexually exploited," said Nick DiNicola, assistant special agent in charge of HSI in Albany, N.Y. "These children are continually victimized every time those images are transmitted, downloaded, shared or viewed. HSI will continue to work closely with its law enforcement counterparts to vigorously investigate these cases and seek justice for the innocent victims."
McMurray is currently in custody pending a court hearing on February 21.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison, a fine of $250,000 and a lifetime of supervised release.
The Utica City School District says McMurray was not an employee of the district, but of Bernie Bus Service. The district says it contacted Bernie Bus and was told McMurray is no longer driving a school bus in the Utica City School District.
Bernie Bus says McMurray was suspended pending the outcome of the case. The bus company says McMurray did go through a fingerprinting and background check process before getting the job nearly five years ago. The company has not had a problem with him since. Eric Taylor, the Vice President of Operations at Bernie Bus Service says, "This situation is of great concern to our company, and we will let the justice system do its job."
This case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).If you have any information about suspected child predators or any suspicious activity, contact HSI through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or online by clicking here.
