Ex-school bus driver charged with secretly filming young girl on bus

HERRIMAN — A former school bus driver for the Jordan District who was fired after being arrested for allegedly recording a young girl with his cell phone while he was driving a bus is now facing a formal charge.

Gabriele Basile, 64, of Herriman, was charged Monday in 3rd District Court with voyeurism, a third-degree felony.

On Oct. 8, Basile is accused of secretly filming a 10-year-old girl sitting behind him as he drove a school bus, according to charging documents.

"Basile, while driving a school bus full of children, has his phone near his lap and turns the camera toward a 10-year-old female child victim that is wearing a green and white skirt," according to a police booking affidavit. "(The girl) is sitting in the first seat to the right of Basile while he is driving. Basile then turns the camera toward his face, looks at the camera, then proceeds to turn the camera of the phone back toward the child victim. The child victim does not appear to notice Basile recording her."

Basile and his wife share a Google account, so "when Basile takes videos or photos, they appear in her photo gallery. (The wife) stated she observed a video of a child on a bus and confronted Basile, who told her that it was an accident and he did not know he was recording at the time," according to charging documents.

When his wife searched his phone, however, she discovered "his search history was cleared and everything had been deleted off his phone."

Police, however, "pulled the hard drive from the bus and reviewed (video) footage and saw that Basile was manipulating something with his hands, but it was unclear what," charging documents state. "The incident occurred in Salt Lake County as (the bus) was departing an elementary school."

Investigators searched Basile's phone after taking him into custody and a 33-second video of the victim was located, according to the charges.

"The defendant is seen on camera recording the victim while she's on a school bus," the charges stay while also adding, "Basile's intentions are clear."

Detectives interviewed Basile's wife and daughter, who said he "has a pornography addiction," according to the affidavit.

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