Former driver for ConVal’s bus company pleads guilty in child pornography case

A Keene man who formerly drove for the bus company that serves the ConVal School District faces at least 15 years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday in connection with a child pornography case.

According to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire, Paul Baird, 44, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the production of child pornography. Judge Steven J. McAuliffe scheduled sentencing for June 25.

According to the charging documents and statements made in court, on Jan. 29, 2024, Baird took at least one sexually explicit photograph of a minor’s genitalia and posted sexually explicit images of the minor on a website that posted child sexual abuse images. During the investigation, law enforcement found images and videos that constitute child CSAM on the defendant’s phone.

Baird and his wife Krystal were arrested in March 2024. At the time of his arrest, Baird was a bus driver by the Student Transportation of America, which is a school transportation company that serves ConVal.  STA spokesperson Jen Holzapfel stated after Baird was arrested that he had been with the company since September 2023 after passing a background check, and was fired immediately.

Then-ConVal Superintendent Kimberly Rizzo Saunders stated that Baird was never a district employee, and that ConVal would immediately begin reviewing its transportation safety protocols and a review with STA of its policies and practices.

The charge of aiding and abetting the production of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and maximum penalty of up to 30 years. It also carries a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.