GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. — A former Cherry Creek School District bus employee was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to third-degree assault, according to court records.
Wayne Smith, 78, was accused of sexually assaulting a child on a bus in 2023.
According to a school district spokesperson, Smith was fired Feb. 2, 2023, "immediately after allegations of his misconduct surfaced."
Smith was sentenced Monday to four years of sex offender intensive supervised probation.
Other charges against him were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
The district sent a letter to parents on July 7, 2023, informing them about Smith's arrest. In that letter, they said Smith worked at the district from January 2019 to February 2023. According to an arrest affidavit, the district told police that Smith had once been a bus driver, but was taken off driving duty and became a bus assistant.
The alleged assault happened on a school bus in January 2023. Bus cameras captured the incident, and a district employee reported it to police on Feb. 1, 2023, according to the affidavit.
Police also found evidence that Smith had covered cameras on two buses with black tape. Bus mechanics found the tape while doing repairs and reported it to their supervisors, the affidavit says.
