Ex-School Bus, Uber Driver Sentenced To 16 Years For Raping 12-Year-Old: DA

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — A former Bay Shore school bus driver and Uber driver was sentenced Friday to 16 years in prison for repeatedly sexually abusing a 12-year-old child over the course of nearly a year, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

Miguel Enrique Diaz, 49, of Bay Shore, was sentenced to 16 years in prison followed by 15 years of post-release supervision after previously pleading guilty to first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, DA said. The charge is a Class B violent felony.

According to prosecutors, Diaz repeatedly raped the child between December 2022 and October 2023. The abuse occurred in the backseat of his car and inside his home, based on court documents and his admissions during his guilty plea.

During the time, Diaz was working as both an Uber driver and a school bus driver in the Bay Shore School District, prosecutors said.

The case came to light in March 2024 when the victim told her mother about the abuse, according to the DA’s office. The mother then contacted the police.

Diaz was arrested on March 13, 2024, following an investigation by the Suffolk County Police Department’s Special Victims Section, prosecutors said.

He pleaded guilty on March 17, before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen Wilutis.

On April 24, Justice Wilutis sentenced Diaz to 16 years in prison followed by 15 years of post-release supervision. He must also register as a sex offender, prosecutors said.

Diaz was represented by Jason Russo, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“While this defendant’s sentence of 16 years in prison is substantial, it pales in comparison to the potential lifelong trauma that the victim will suffer due to the defendant’s crime,” Tierney said. “We hope the tremendous strength this young survivor showed in coming forward was the first of many steps in her healing process, and that it encourages others who have experienced abuse to come forward knowing that they will be heard, believed, and protected.”