Ex-CVUSD bus driver to stand trial for allegedly molesting girls

A former Desert Hot Springs bus driver will be tried for allegedly molesting several girls years ago while working for the Coachella Valley Unified School District.

Jose Luis Moncada, 67, was arrested in 2020 following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation.   

At the end of a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Jason Stone found there was sufficient evidence to bound Moncada over for trial on seven counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old, as well as sentence-enhancing allegations of targeting multiple victims in a sex crime. One lewd act charge was dismissed.   

Stone scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for June 11 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. The defendant is free on a $100,000 bond.   

According to the District Attorney's Office, in 2010, Moncada "inappropriately touched several students while conducting his duties as a school bus driver'' for the Coachella Valley Unified School District.

Three victims were identified, all referenced as "Jane Does" in the criminal complaint.

A statement released by then-CVUSD Superintendent Maria Gandera after Moncada's arrest confirmed he'd been a district employee when the first student came forward with allegations.

Moncada was arrested in February 2020 while still on the job. An investigation into the defendant was initiated five months prior.   

Two anonymous former CVUSD students, now adults, sued the Coachella Valley and Palm Springs unified school districts in 2021 for failure to report Moncada's alleged behavior, according to published reports.

In their complaint, the plaintiffs accused PSUSD of ignoring a parent's 2004 warning that Moncada had abused a 7-year-old child without the district contacting law enforcement.