A former school van driver originally accused of sexual assaulting one of his intellectually disabled passengers in Pittsburgh pleaded no contest on Monday to a reduced charge of corruption of minors.

As part of the plea deal, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office withdrew more serious felony counts of institutional sexual assault and endangering the welfare of children.

The agreement called for probation, not incarceration, for Raymond West, 44, of Swissvale.

But Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Bruce Beemer postponed punishment after West objected to a statement submitted by the alleged victim and her mother as part of the sentencing process in which they continued to say she’d been assaulted.

“I would never in my life even think about doing something like that,” West told the judge.

Beemer said he was giving both sides time to reassess the deal, allowing West to think about withdrawing his plea and letting prosecutors consider what restrictions to seek while West is on probation.

The judge set March 18 as the new sentencing date.

According to the criminal complaint, the alleged victim, who was 18 at the time, told her siblings in spring 2022 that West had touched her both on top of and under her clothing multiple times.

He had been her driver for two years and had told her she was sexy and looked pretty, she then related to her mom, according to the complaint.

West also showed her a condom and told her he wanted to have sex with her, the complaint said.

The alleged victim was then interviewed by the Child Advocacy Center at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh where she made similar statements and said West showed her videos on the school van, including one in which he was in the bathroom wearing only a towel, according to the complaint.

When police interviewed West, the complaint said, he denied having touched the alleged victim and said that she had behavioral problems on the van, including exposing herself and touching herself inappropriately. He told police he never reported those issues either to the company he drove for or to the alleged victim’s mother.

During Monday’s hearing, Assistant District Attorney Deanne Paul told the court that evidence would show that West showed the alleged victim pornographic images and videos on his phone.

Paul did not explain why the prosecution was no longer pursuing the other counts, though she did say the alleged victim and her family agreed with the plea deal.

“The plea accomplished our goal of holding the defendant accountable and protecting the victim,” First Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Spangler told TribLive in an email. “The conviction will preclude the defendant from holding a position working with children (paid or volunteer). The victim did not have to endure the trial process.”

Paul asked the judge to sentence West to three years probation and forbid contact with minors in any school-related activities through work or volunteering .

West’s attorney, Brandon Herring, said his client is no longer a school van driver and does not work with minors. However, West coaches youth boxing.

In a written statement, the alleged victim’s mother said her daughter, who police said had the mental capability of a third grader, had always been bright, bubbly, kind, loving, shy and nurturing. But she had also been subjected to bullying.

“My sweet girl could not see the bad in anybody,” she wrote. “The defendant knew all of these things about my child.”

Before the alleged assaults, her daughter enjoyed going to school, but that was no longer the case afterward, her mom wrote. Instead, the teen became angry and had behavioral issues.

The alleged victim also now is suspicious of male authority figures, her mom said.

“[She] trusted, confided and genuinely cared for the defendant,” the letter continued. “He took advantage of that, which is unforgivable.”

Throughout the impact statement, West shook his head and appeared to be upset.

Afterward, when he spoke on his own behalf, West told the judge he did not assault the alleged victim.

“I know who I am as a person. I could take a lie detector test,” he said. “If she thought all those things, we could have taken it all the way to court.

“This is crazy.”

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