School bus driver arrested for illicit contact with minor passenger

MERCED – After being caught attempting to have sex with a 17-year-old female student, a Merced area school bus driver was arrested on September 11^th. 58-year-old Efrain Orozco of Planada was charged with contact of a minor with the intent to commit sexual acts.

Efrain Orozco

Suspicion was first aroused when a Merced Police Department School Resource Officer noticed a tan Ford parked in an alley between 8^th and 9^th Avenue in Central Merced.

Upon approaching the vehicle, the officer noticed two people in the back seat, one of whom he recognized as a student who attended a local school. The other person was later identified as Orozco.

When the officer began to question Orozco and the student, he noticed that both were pulling up their pants. After further investigation, officers learned that Orozco was a local school bus driver and the student had been a passenger earlier that day.

According the information that police obtained, Orozco and the victim met in the alleyway shortly after Orozco completed his school bus route. After Orozco’s arrest, authorities notified both the school administrators and the company that contracted the bus to the district.

Orozco chose this back alley to arrange his meeting with the young student

Merced Police Department PIO Lt. Tom Trindad declined to give further details on the incident to protect the victim and the integrity of the investigation.

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Merced Sun-Star: Bus driver arrested over sex offense