School bus driver's nudity backs up sex charges, DA says

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The unraveling of Jeffrey Sipes' life started with a tip about a Gmail account accessing child pornography. Police said they uncovered more than 600 pictures when they searched his electronics.

They arrested him and he bailed out.

But a day later, they arrested him again after hearing from a woman who said he forced himself on her a few times dating back to 1985.

Because the accusations are old, the law requires some kind of independent corroboration, and in this case, prosecutors said Sipes' ex-wife saw something suspicious.

Eric Schweitzer, defense attorney, said, "To make such an allegation that a man was found nude in his own home by his wife as corroboration is a scurrilous method."

"Let's be clear that the facts alleged are not that Mr. Sipes was naked in his own home. Let's talk about the fact that Mr. Sipes was standing naked in his 13-year-old stepdaughter's bedroom while she was sleeping," said Deborah Girard, prosecutor.

"There's nothing there. It's immaterial. It's irrelevant. It's a fact in a vacuum and it means nothing," said Schweitzer.

The 54-year-old was a Fresno Unified school bus driver and the district notified parents of his arrest, but police said there is no evidence of him illegally contacting any students.

Sipes is still on administrative leave with Fresno Unified, but as of Wednesday, his leave is unpaid. Wednesday morning, a judge agreed prosecutors have enough corroboration to move the case forward.