A former contracted school bus driver for State College Area School District on Wednesday waived his preliminary hearing on charges that he had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old high school student.
Matthew Dunlap, 25, of Port Matilda, was charged on Nov. 15 with statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors, unlawful contact with a minor, obscene and other sexual materials and performances and indecent assault.
He remains incarcerated in the Centre County Correctional Facility in lieu of $200,000 bail. The charges are bound over to Centre County Court of Common Please and head toward trial.
Dunlap is alleged to have begun exchanging sexual messages by text message and social media with the girl in January, with Dunlap sending and soliciting nude photos. He allegedly had sexual intercourse with the girl on three occasions this past summer at her home while her parents were at work.
Dunlap was a contracted driver, not a district employee, but had undergone criminal and child abuse background checks. He had been a contracted bus driver since 2012, first for Cole Transportation and then for Long Motor Buses since the start of the 2015-16 school year.
The investigation began on Sept. 28 with a complaint about a rude bus driver. State College High School Resource Officer Terry Stec quickly learned from students that Dunlap and the girl allegedly spoke nearly every day at the bus stop even though she did not ride his bus. Students also told Stec they had overheard Dunlap and the girl talking about texting and Snapchatting with each other.
High school personnel contacted Long Motor Buses at the start of the investigation and Dunalp was immediately removed from driving.
Later that evening, the girl’s mother called Stec and told him her daughter informed her that she had a sexual relationship with Dunlap during the summer. The girl allegedly told State College Police and the Centre County Child Advocacy Center that she and Dunlap exchanged nude photographs and had sexual intercourse on three occasions.
Dunlap allegedly admitted to sending and receiving nude photos and having sexual intercourse on two occasions with the girl.
The girl was not a passenger on Dunlap’s bus, but had been while she was in middle school two years ago. He began contacting her by social media when she moved to high school in 2015. District Attorney Parks Miller said the evidence shows that the alleged relationship did not begin until 2016. The alleged incidents did not occur on school property or on a bus and Dunlap is not believed to have had an alleged relationship with any other students.
