UPDATE, JAN. 20, 10 A.M.: School bus driver Shane
Norman Crawford is to be arraigned at this hour on charges he molested
three children, whose ages range from 3 to 14, in his Laguna Hills home. The 37-year-old, who has been behind the wheel for 12 years and most recently drove for a company that provides buses to several Orange County schools, is charged with five felony counts of
lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 with a sentencing
enhancement allegation for sexual crimes against multiple victims. Conviction could put him in prison for 75 years.
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Crawford has been held in lieu of $1 million bail since his Dec. 21 arrest and pending his continued arraignment scheduled for 10 this morning at the Central Jail in Santa Ana.
The Orange County District Attorney's office fears there may be other young victims. Anyone with information is encouraged to call Supervising District Attorney Investigator
Lou Gutierrez at 714.347.8794.
ORIGINAL POST, DEC. 23, 2011, 8:43 A.M.: A school bus driver who has spent 12 years behind the wheel, most
recently for a company that supplies drivers and buses to several Orange
County schools, is accused of sexually molesting three boys and girls,
whose ages range from 3 to 14, in Laguna Hills apartment.
The victims are not family members of Shane Norman Crawford
nor did the 37-year-old meet them through his work, although sheriff's
investigators say he did earn the trust of parents who left their
children alone with him.
The sheriff's department says the crimes took place over the past
few weeks in Crawford's apartment in the 2500 block of Stockport Street.
One child told a grandmother who alerted the authorities.
Booked Wednesday night on three charges of lewd and lascivious acts
with a minor, Crawford was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail pending arraignment today.
He
is employed by First Student Transportation Services. Authorities fear
there may be other victims given his line of work. Anyone with
information is asked to call the sheriff's deparment at 855.847.6227 or
visit www.occrimestoppers.org.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.