School bus driver charged with porn
A 41-year-old Plainfield school bus driver is being held without bond after officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation charged him with distributing child pornography.
Mario Meschino, of the 24000 block of Madison Road in Plainfield, was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with one count of distribution of child pornography.
If found guilty of the felony offense, Meschino could be behind bars for a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years, FBI officials said.
Meschino was hired in 2004 by First Student Transportation Company in Plainfield and worked as a school bus driver for Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 until he was terminated after being charged, company officials said.
Through a press release, First Student officials said bus drivers are required to pass extensive federal, state and local background checks that involve both criminal and driving histories. In addition, regular rechecks are conducted throughout an employee's tenure with the company.
"Nothing in this employee's background indicated that he was not suitable for employment," the press release added. "We are supporting law enforcement authorities in their investigation and are working closely with school district officials."
Tom Hernandez, school district spokesman, said First Student bus company takes extraordinary steps to ensure the safety of students and that school bus drivers are put through rigorous background checks, he added.
"They take extraordinary measures to check backgrounds of all drivers, so we are confident the company did everything they were supposed to do regarding background checks," he said. "Our first concern is for the safety of our students, and we were glad First Student terminated his employment when these charges came to light."
He added a note is being sent home with students that explains the situation.
According to the complaint, Meschino was identified as a possible distributor of child pornography over the internet by the FBI's Innocent Images Task Force, created in 1996 to combat the manufacture, distribution and possession of child pornography.
A search of his residence was conducted Wednesday, where numerous CDs were discovered, each of which contained suspected images of minors engaged in sexually explicit activity.
An investigation also identified several e-mail accounts used by Meschino to send pornographic images of minors.p>
Meschino was ordered held without bond and is being held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago pending his next scheduled court appearance.