WATERTOWN, N.Y. — A former school bus driver here received a sentence of probation last week after he admitted in a plea deal to raping a 14-year-old girl he drove to school last year.

Trooper Jack Keller, the public information officer for the New York State Police, told ABC News that after Shane Piche, 26, met the girl through his bus route, they started communicating through social media. Keller added that in late June or early July 2018, Piche picked up the girl and two of her friends, both minors, and brought them to his house. An investigation found that Piche raped his main target and gave her friends alcohol, Keller said. The girl who was raped reported the incident about two weeks later, Keller told ABC News.

State police arrested Piche on Sept. 5, according to Watertown Daily Times.

The newspaper reported in February that Piche had been a bus driver for Freeman Bus Corp. when the incident occurred, and he then worked for First Student after the company took over the contract in July.

As a result of his guilty plea on Feb. 21 to third-degree rape, Piche was sentenced to 10 years of probation and will be registered as a Level 1 sex offender, Watertown Daily Times reports.

Although the district attorney’s office had requested a Level 2 designation, the judge determined that because Piche had no prior arrests and there was only one victim in the plea, Level 1 was more appropriate according to Watertown Daily Times. According to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, that designation indicates low risk of committing the crime again, and Piche’s full address will not appear in online databases, according to USA Today.

Additionally, three “no contact” protection orders were issued against Piche, and he is prohibited from being alone with anyone under 17 years old, with some exceptions, Watertown Daily News reports.
 
Piche was also charged with first-degree unlawfully dealing with a child and endangering the welfare of a child after allegedly providing the youth with alcohol, according to the news source. He is required to pay $375 in court fees and a $1,000 sex offender registration fee.