ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 17, 1997 TAG: 9704170074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOANNE POINDEXTER THE ROANOKE TIMES
Walter Pugh was sentenced to a total of seven years on the charges against him, but the judge suspended all but 12 months.
A former Bedford County school bus driver was sentenced to 12 months in jail Tuesday on two counts of sexually molesting a 9-year-old boy.
Walter W. Pugh, 35, of Moneta entered an Alford plea in February to one felony charge of taking indecent liberties with a child and one charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor. An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt but acknowledges that the evidence is strong enough to convict.
Pugh also was convicted of larceny in connection with some stolen property found in his home when Bedford County sheriff's investigators searched it in connection with the sexual molestation charges.
Bedford County Circuit Judge William Sweeney sentenced Pugh to a total of seven years on all charges but suspended all but 12 months. Pugh also will be on five years' supervised probation after he is released and was ordered to complete sex-offender treatment recommended by his probation officer.
Pugh was arrested in June after a complaint from the Bedford County Department of Social Services. He was accused of asking the child to fondle him and showing the boy pornographic videos, Bedford County Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Krantz said.
Pugh was suspended from his job in May 1996 after school officials learned of the investigation. The school system did not renew his bus-driving contract last fall. The boy was not one of the children on his bus route.
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