Former Illinois School Bus Driver Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Child Porn

KENDALL COUNTY, ILLINOIS – A man from the Sandwich area in Illinois who is a former school bus driver has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the video recording and possession of child pornography, according to officials.

62-year-old Daniel L. Aldrich, who lives in an unincorporated area near Sandwich in the Little Rock Township on the first block of Sandra Court was sentenced to prison on Tuesday by a Kendall County judge after Aldrich took a plea deal, according to a news release by prosecutors.

Aldrich gave a guilty plea to the dissemination and possession of child pornography in a case from 2018, also two related charges from a 2019 case, along with three unauthorized video recording charges from a 2019 case.

Mr. Aldrich used to be a school bus driver for the 430 Sandwich School District as a driver for the district’s Millington route, according to district officials. Aldrich was placed on unpaid administrative leave after accusations of the charges emerged.

Detectives with the Sheriff’s department launched an investigation into Aldrich in July of 2018 after they received a cyber tip through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The investigation lasted three months, and during that time detectives discovered Aldrich was downloading child pornography images at his home. Soon afterward detectives obtained a search warrant to look into his computers and multiple items of evidence were examined, officials said.

Apparently Mr. Aldrich has cameras hooked up in his basement that he videotaped people changing clothes in his bathroom with. Some of the people who were videotaped were female minors which led to more charges being filed in 2019 for the photographing and videotaping of naked juvenile girls who were under 13 years old and also between ages 13 and 18.

On October 25, 2018, Alrich was placed under arrest and booked into the Kendall County jail in Yorkville. Mr. Aldrich was released the next day after posting his bond.

It is believed by law enforcement officials that none of the students that were on Aldrich’s school bus route were victims in the case.

Daniel L. Aldrich is required to serve at least 10 years in prison before he will be eligible for parole. After he serves his sentence, Aldrich is required to serve parole for three years and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.