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SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah Transit Authority bus driver charged last week with possessing child pornography is also suspected of falling asleep while driving a bus and crashing it, injuring passengers.
Jeffrey Todd Aydelotte, 56, of West Valley City, was charged Friday in 3rd District Court with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.
The investigation began in April when Dropbox reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that suspected child pornography was uploaded to an account. The file was eventually traced back to Aydelotte and a search warrant was served on his home last week, according to charging documents
Suspected child pornography was found on Aydelotte's cellphone and laptop, the charges state.
Aydelotte is under investigation in a separate case for allegedly going off the road and crashing while driving a UTA bus on June 7. On that day, a bus went off the road near 7300 West and 3500 South, ran over a pole and crashed into a utility box. The driver, Aydelotte, and three passengers were taken to a local hospital to be treated for minor injuries.
When questioned by police at the hospital, Adydelotte admitted to smoking methamphetamine two days earlier, according to a search warrant affidavit. Investigators also reviewed security video recorded from inside the bus.
"It appears Mr. Aydelotte fell asleep while driving the bus, as his head can be seen slumping down and is seen going off of the roadway. Mr. Aydelotte appears to awake just before making contact with a bus stop sign, a light pole and then an electrical box," the warrant states.
Detectives took two vials of blood from Aydelotte to be tested at the Utah State Crime Lab. As of Monday, no criminal charges have been filed in connection with the bus crash.
