Bus driver admits to sex with teen

By Cleve Wiese

Published: May 30, 2008

A bus driver for Staunton City Schools was arrested Thursday for an alleged sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student, police said.
Paula Tomlin, 36, is facing four charges in Augusta County of indecent liberties with a child while in a custodial position and three more in Staunton, Augusta County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Brian Jenkins said. The sexual encounters allegedly took place between May 10 and 25 at Tomlin’s Orange Street apartment in Staunton and at the Folly Mills Waterfall, a scenic area near Mint Springs, Jenkins said.
Tomlin was hired as a bus driver and assistant instructor at Robert E. Lee High School in August 2006, Staunton City Schools Superintendent Steven Nichols said. Like all school employees, she passed thorough criminal and Child Protective Services background checks prior to employment, he said. During the past two years Tomlin showed no other signs of trouble, he said.
According to information gathered during the investigation, over the last three weeks the 16-year-old male student, who attends the Genesis Alternative Education School in Fishersville, would regularly ride Tomlin’s bus in the afternoons until her route was finished, then the two would leave the bus storage area together in her car, Nichols said. Tomlin would drop the student off within walking distance of his house, usually around 6 p.m., Nichols said. The student’s parents were unaware anything unusual was taking place.
An adult acquaintance of Tomlin’s informed school authorities of the situation at noon Wednesday, Nichols said. By 3 p.m., they were sufficiently confident of wrongdoing to inform police. Tomlin was arrested Thursday following the completion of her bus route.
School officials provided police with evidence, including a series of explicit text messages between Tomlin and the student, Staunton Police Department Investigator J.I. Hylton said. After initial denials, Tomlin and the student confirmed under questioning the sexual nature of their relationship, Hylton said. Both stated they were in love.
Tomlin has resigned from her position at the school and will never work for the district again, Nichols said.
“We take the safety of children very seriously and, as recent events have shown, when an employee acts in a way that could be detrimental to students’ well being, we will act decisively in their best interest,” Nichols said.
Tomlin was released Friday from Middle River Regional Jail on a $2,500 secured bond for the Staunton charges and a separate $2,500 secured bond for the Augusta County charges, police said.