By Rapids City Times staff

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – A former Pittsville school bus driver pleaded no contest Aug. 23 to two felony charges in a sexual assault case.

Wood County court documents say Scott Thiel, 46, had sex with a teenage girl over a span of two years, and the sex allegedly took place at various locations—including his home, the bus terminal, in the bus he drove, and at a bar which he owned.

The girl told investigators the encounters began when she was a 14-year-old freshman in October 2015, when she left her cell phone on the bus, and Thiel had added his contact information to it by the time she retrieved it.

She said that started two years of sexual contact and an exchange of photos between the two, and that the sexual encounters with Thiel went until December 2017.

Thiel was found guilty in Wood County Court of repeated sexual assault of a child by a person who works with children and child enticement. In a plea deal, two other charges – repeated sexual assault of a child and child pornography possession – were dismissed.

The judge revoked Thiel’s bail following the plea hearing, and he was taken into custody. Thiel is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 15.