Last Updated on November 1, 2018 by CCAR Staff
A bus driver and several passengers helped to stop a registered sex offender, who authorities said, had attempted to sexually assault a young girl on the bus on Halloween.
Antoine Ryans, 42, of Apple Valley was arrested on suspicion of attempted lewd acts on a child, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Apple Valley station deputies received a call Wednesday, Oct. 31, that a Victor Valley Transit bus driver had to pull over at Apple Valley Road and Highway 18 due to a passenger being inappropriate with several women and girls, according to a news release.
The man, later identified as Ryans, a registered sex offender living in Apple Valley, made several sexual statements to a young girl on the bus before approaching her and “attempting to contact her for sexual gratification,” the statement said.
That’s when the driver and passengers stepped in, officials said.
Ryans ran away before deputies arrived but he was found and detained a short distance away. Deputies later arrested Ryans and he was booked into the Adelanto Detention Center where he is being held without bail due to his parole violation.
Investigators are searching for additional victims and ask anyone with information to call Deputy Tyler Loup or Sgt. James R. Evans at the Apple Valley sheriff’s station at 760-240-7400.
