Ex-Pa. school bus driver faces another molesting charge

UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A former school bus driver serving two to four years in state prison for molesting a mentally disabled 16-year-old student has now been ordered to stand trial on charges he raped another girl two or three years ago.

Thirty-one-year-old Jason Freeland, of North Union Township, was sentenced last November by a Fayette County judge, after previously pleading guilty to aggravated indecent assault and other crimes.

Freeland was fired by Rittenhouse Bus Lines after the Jan. 27, 2012 incident in which he picked up the girl from school, then drove her in a school van to an undisclosed location and fondled her. He was charged after the girl told a friend she was “dating” Freeland.

The new charges involve a 16-year-old girl who came forward in June and accused Freeland of molesting her when she was 13 or 14.