A former Kanawha County school bus driver who sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl has been sentenced to up to 17 years in prison.
Leonard Earl "Ricky" Smith, 50, pleaded guilty in July to third-degree sexual assault and soliciting a minor via computer. He was arrested in January after a girl who rode his bus told police Smith had engaged in sexual activity with her.
Smith was a substitute bus driver at the time. The assault did not occur on the bus, police said.
Smith was sentenced to serve one to five years on the soliciting charge, and two to 10 years on the assault charge, according to a news release from the Kanawha County Prosecutor's Office. The sentences will run one after the other. Smith will also be placed on 50 years of extended supervision.