Bus Driver Charged With Attempted Luring Minor To South Jersey Hotel

BURLINGTON COUNTY - A bus driver from Florida was charged Wednesday with attempting to lure someone who he believed to be an underage girl to a hotel in South Jersey, authorities said.

Gregory P. Tibbetts, 59, of Ocoee, Fla., was charged with attempted sexual assault, luring and related offenses after attempting to meet up with an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old girl at a Westampton hotel, Burlington County Prosecutor Lachia L. Bradshaw and Westampton Township Police Chief Stephen Ent said in a statement.

The charges stem from a June 5 tip from a hotel employee who reported that Tibbets, who was traveling in the area for work, notified the employee that he wanted to connect with an underage male or female for sex.

Police then provided the employee with a cell phone number to pass along to the bus driver.

Over the course of a text exchange with detectives, Tibbets, described in “graphic detail” the sexual acts he hoped to engage in with the minor.

Tibbetts was taken into custody at the hotel Wednesday and lodged in the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly pending a detention hearing in Superior Court. The case will be prepared for presentation to a grand jury at a later date.