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Bus driver charged with sex offense with student
By Lynn Hotaling
 A custodian and bus driver is no longer employed by the school system after allegations he had sexual relations with a student.
Edward Williams, 36, of Sylva, a Cullowhee Valley School custodian and part-time bus driver, is no longer a school system employee, according to David Steinbicker, personnel director for Jackson County Schools. When asked whether Williams resigned or was fired, Steinbicker declined comment, saying it is a personnel matter.
Williams is charged with a sexual offense with a student, said Capt. Steve Lillard of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
Charges were filed after school officials turned the matter over to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for investigation on suspicion Williams was having an improper relationship with a female student, Lillard said.
Williams was not the student’s regular bus driver but a substitute who drove the bus occasionally, Lillard said. Upon investigation, officers found evidence that Williams had sex with a 17-year-old female Smoky Mountain High School student, Lillard said.
According to documents on file in the Jackson County Clerk of Court’s Office, the alleged offenses occurred between Jan. 1 and Jan. 24.
Williams has been released from jail on a $5,000 bond, Lillard said.
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