Child Porn Charges End With Guilty Plea By Montco School Bus Driver

NORTH WALES, PA — A school bus driver from Montgomery County has admitted in court to downloading and viewing child pornography.

Daniel McCaulley, 55, of North Wales, pleaded guilty late last week to two third-degree felony counts of child pornography.

Court records in the case show he entered his guilty pleas on Aug. 19 before Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Virgil B. Walker.

Montgomery County Detectives filed criminal charges in late May 2021 against McCaulley, who they say was employed as a local school bus driver for First Student Services.

In a criminal complaint, County Detective James Reape, who works the Special Victim's Unit at the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, wrote that he had received Cyber Tips last year from the Delaware County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force that referenced 13 images of child sexual exploitation materials.

The Cyber Tips had been generated by complaints filed by Internet provider Yahoo in regard to one of their users, who was ultimately identified as McCaulley.

Reape said he met with McCaulley on May 26, 2021, at which time McCaulley confirmed ownership of the Yahoo email accounts and admitting that he uploaded and viewed images that he said were "nudism and naturism photographs," also stating that, "maybe I went too far with my curiosity," according to the criminal complaint.

"When asked why he would search and view these images he stated he thought the girls were 'cute,'" Reape wrote in the complaint.

Reape said a preview of the images confirmed they depicted minor children in bikinis and unclothed, the complaint states.

The complaint also states that McCaulley admitted to sexually pleasuring himself while viewing one of the images on his iPad.

Investigators said they served a search warrant for McCaulley's electronic devices on June 14, 2021, at which time they found numerous images of naked female children under the age of 18.

In exchange for pleading guilty to the two felony child porn counts, additional child pornography charges as well as two charges of criminal use of a communication facility were dropped, according to court records.

Sentencing in the case has not yet been scheduled.

McCaulley remains free on bail.