VB school bus driver charged with child porn denied bond

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – A former Virginia Beach school bus driver facing child pornography and contributing to the delinquency of a minor charges appeared in court Thursday morning for a bond hearing.

31-year-old Michael Gunther was in court with his attorney on five charges of possession of child pornography—and the assistant commonwealth’s attorney told the judge there could be more of those charges coming.

Gunther was denied bond. The assistant commonwealth’s attorney was adamant that Gunther was still a threat to society.

Some new details came out in court Thursday. Investigators say they found more than 50 photos relating to child pornography on Gunther’s phone. Court documents say those pictures were of boys in the nude. Before they can move forward with more charges, investigators first need to make sure those pictures were not AI-generated and are of underaged children.

A parent who says their son was a victim spoke with WAVY News 10. They claim their son was convinced to run away and get drunk with Gunther – and was gone for 18 hours.

Gunther was arrested Oct. 5, but this story begins nearly a month earlier on Sept. 4 when a student’s mother found him passed out after getting sick. The mother says she found text messages on her son’s phone between him and Michael Gunther, the boy’s bus driver. The texts from Gunther referred to buying alcohol and tobacco vapes for students. Some of the parents believe the school system may have known something about Gunther’s actions and they say they are considering finding legal representation.

In a statement to WAVY 10 Thursday, The Virginia Beach City Public Schools wrote:

“VBCPS conducted an immediate internal investigation when notified by VBPD of the employee’s misconduct and arrest. The internal investigation revealed a school administrator met on September 5 with a parent who brought forward concerning text messages related to nicotine products. The school administrator acted swiftly to notify a School Resource Officer (SRO) of the parent’s suspicions. The SRO notified the appropriate VBPD investigative personnel to initiate a criminal investigation in an attempt to prove or disprove the allegations. By October 5, 2023, VBPD investigators had developed enough probable cause to arrest Michael Gunther on one charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.  After Mr. Gunther’s arrest, additional evidence was obtained which led to Gunther being charged with five counts of Possession of Obscene Material of a Minor,  offenses not part of the original allegation and investigation.“

Virginia Beach City Public Schools confirmed to WAVY that Gunther is no longer employed with the school system.

This is a case WAVY will continue to follow.