A Coachella Valley Unified School District bus driver accused of molesting an elementary school student is slated to be arraigned next month on a charge of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old.
Eric Ochoa Hernandez, 47, of Thermal was arrested last month following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation at Oasis Elementary School on Avenue 74 in Thermal.
Hernandez made his initial court appearance on Feb. 23, when Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Tucker appointed him an attorney and scheduled his formal arraignment for April 2 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.
The defendant is free on a $100,000 bond. He’s on administrative leave from the school district.
According to a sheriff’s arrest warrant declaration, in September, deputies were alerted to the possible sexual abuse of a female student, whose identity was not disclosed, on the afternoon of Aug. 29.
The affidavit alleged that while the minor was aboard the CVUSD bus to which Hernandez was assigned and waiting for a ride home, the defendant approached her, dropped his pants and “forced the victim to grab his exposed penis.”
Hernandez, who stands 5 feet, 9 inches and weighs 275 pounds, then compelled the child to make a “stroking motion” before allowing her to remove her hand, court papers alleged.
The victim informed her mother a short time afterward, culminating in forensic interviews during which the girl demonstrated for child welfare agents what had allegedly happened, according to the declaration.
Investigators procured sufficient evidence to obtain an arrest warrant, served on Hernandez without incident at his residence.
By that time, the district had already placed him on administrative leave.
He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
