Donal James Seaver, a former Hesperia school bus driver, has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of possessing thousands of images of child sexual abuse, the Justice Department announced. The 51-year-old, once responsible for transporting special needs elementary school students, admitted to having over 10,000 images and several videos of child pornography, some depicting children under 12 years old, according to an official statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California.
As Hoodline reported, Seaver's devices underwent thorough scrutiny by law enforcement after a search warrant was executed at his Hesperia residence back in March 2024. During the investigation, his frequent practice of factory resetting a Samsung tablet, most recently on February 27, was uncovered.
Seaver, who had been in federal custody since March 2024, entered the plea agreement, acknowledging his conscious downloading and possession of the illegal materials from the internet onto his digital devices. In a statement obtained by the Department of Justice, he explicitly recognized that the materials contained "videos and images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct."
The case is not without its protracted legal journey, previously stalling at the state court level but now taken up to federal notice as Seaver awaits sentencing. Focused on this unsettling case's outcome, readers may note that United States District Judge Jesus G. Bernal has scheduled the sentencing hearing for August 25. As detailed by a KTLA report, Seaver faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. The investigation into Seaver's activities was conducted jointly by the FBI and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, with the prosecution led by Assistant United States Attorney Sonah Lee of the Riverside Branch Office.
