A Monessen school bus driver charged this week by federal authorities for possession of child pornography had previously been barred from driving children after he was arrested on similar charges in 2001.

This week’s indictment of Jack Brian Laforte, 54, came nearly two decades after he was charged in Westmoreland County for sending emails with sexual content to two 14-year-old boys in the Monessen area.

According to court records, Laforte was charged with 40 counts of corruption of minors and was sentenced to serve 18 months on probation as part of a jail diversionary program. Laforte was admitted in April 2001 — four months after his arrest — to the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program that did not require him to plead guilty to the charges.

As a condition of his sentence, the judge ordered that Laforte not drive a school bus or attend school events.

Despite his previous conviction, it appears Laforte continued to work for the private company that supplies school buses and drivers to the Monessen school district.

Superintendent Leanne Spazak, in a statement released Wednesday, said school officials are not responsible for hiring bus drivers.

“We are very disturbed by these charges. We contract our transportation through PA Coach Lines, and have never had a situation such as this before,” Spazak said. “After speaking with PA Coach, the employee informed the company of the charges Monday. They put the employee on immediate leave without pay until further details were available. There is no indication at this point that this involves any students from Monessen. We are depending on PA Coach for further details, as we do not employ the bus drivers.”

Representatives from Pennsylvania Coach Lines did not return a call seeking comment.

Laforte’s criminal records, which include details of the 2001 cases, are available on public dockets at the Westmoreland County Courthouse and online through the state’s electronic court records website.

Those records indicate that in 2002, a judge rejected Laforte’s request to have the 2001 criminal case expunged.

U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady this week announced Laforte was charged with possessing child pornography following a grand jury investigation. Federal authorities said Laforte possessed videos and images in computer graphic files that showed minors, some younger than 12, engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)