Former Bay Shore bus driver sentenced to 16 years for repeated sexual abuse of 12-year-old

A Bay Shore man who admitted to repeatedly raping a 12-year-old girl over the course of nearly a year is headed to prison following his sentencing on Friday, Suffolk prosecutors said.

Miguel Enrique Diaz, 49, was sentenced to 16 years behind bars after pleading guilty last month to first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, a violent felony, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said.

Tierney said Diaz sexually abused the victim numerous times between December 2022 and October 2023, assaulting her in the backseat of his car and inside his home. During that period, Diaz was working as an Uber driver and a school bus driver in the Bay Shore Union Free School District.

The abuse came to light in March 2024, when the victim disclosed the assaults to her mother, who then called police. Diaz was arrested that month, following an investigation by the Suffolk Police’s Special Victims Section.

Diaz also was sentenced to 15 years of post-release supervision, and will be required to register as a sex offender.

“While this defendant’s sentence of 16 years in prison is substantial, it pales in comparison to the potential lifelong trauma that the victim will suffer,” Tierney said.

“We hope the tremendous strength this young survivor showed to coming forward was the first of many steps in her healing process, and that it encourages others who have experienced abuse to come forward knowing that they will be heard, believed, and protected.”

_{Top: School bus (Photo by Austin Pacheco) and Miguel Enrique Diaz (provided by Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office).}