Judge says tape shows no molestation of Pa. boy

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A judge who threw out criminal charges against a fired Port Authority of Allegheny County bus driver says a surveillance tape didn’t support prosecutors’ claims that the man molested a boy or let him steer the bus.

Instead, County Judge David Cashman says the recording showed 52-year-old Anthony Leffler, of Pittsburgh, being affectionate with his son while Leffler piloted a nearly empty bus to a transit garage.

At one point, the boy tires and lays his head in his father’s lap, but Cashman says nothing on the tape suggests Leffler fondled the boy or let him try to steer the bus. Leffler was fired for the July 3 incident, but is fighting to get his job back.

District attorney’s spokesman Mike Manko says prosecutors believed the video showed the driver endangered the boy and other behavior that warranted the fondling charges.