Former Sparta School Bus Driver Sentenced For Child Porn: NJ AG

SPARTA, NJ — A former school bus driver with the Sparta school district has been sentenced to five years in state prison for distributing child pornography, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said.

Eugene Triston, 58, of Stanhope, N.J., plead guilty to a second-degree charge of distribution of child pornography, stemming from his Feb. 2016 arrest. He was sentenced in state superior court on Thursday. In addition to jail time, Triston will be required to register as a sex offender and be subject to life-long supervised parole.

Triston kept an online shared folder with 150 files of violent child pornography, including videos, Grewal said. Triston viewed the pornography in between bus runs, which included driving elementary aged children.

Officials said Triston's role caring for children as a bus driver made his crimes particularly alarming.

"Today when Eugene Triston boarded a bus, it was as a passenger on his way to state prison," said Colonel Patrick Callahan of the New Jersey State Police. “The State Police and our partners will continue to relentlessly scour the internet to locate and arrest deviants who, by sharing these images repeatedly, continue to victimize innocent children long after the actual assaults."

"While all those who possess and distribute child pornography online promote the sexual exploitation of children by their conduct, it is particularly alarming to find a defendant like Triston who held a job that put him in close contact with children,” said Attorney General Grewal. “Our message to these offenders is that we are patrolling the internet and we will find you and send you to prison for your crimes."

Triston was arrested as part of "Operation Safeguard," a statewide operation led by the Division of Criminal Justice, ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the New Jersey State Police that targeted child predators.

Image via NJAG