A Port Authority bus driver has been charged with molesting a boy while driving.

According to an affidavit, 48-year-old Anthony James Leffler, of Baker Street in Morningside, was operating a bus on Freeport Road in Harmar on July 3 when the incident occurred. Police described the victim as an adolescent male under the age of 13.

Another Port Authority employee saw the bus pass with the boy sitting on Mr. Leffler's lap, and the boy's hands on the bus steering wheel. The witness reported the matter to the authority as a possible safety violation at about 6 p.m.

After Mr. Leffler returned to the Harmar garage a few minutes later, Port Authority officials told him of the complaint and questioned him. Mr. Leffler said the boy had been on the bus, but denied that the boy had been sitting on his lap or driving the bus.

As part of their investigation, Port Authority officials reviewed videotape from the bus' surveillance camera and observed sexual activity. They reported the matter to Allegheny County police.

When county police reviewed the videotape, they observed Mr. Leffler in the driver's seat of the bus with the boy standing next to him from about 4:54 p.m. to about 6 p.m. At approximately 5:54 p.m., police observed the boy's head in the driver's lap for about five minutes, according to the affidavit.

During this period, Mr. Leffler was observed pushing the boy's head toward his lap several times, patting the boy's buttocks, and reaching inside the back of the boy's pants and grabbing his buttocks. At times, the bus' speed exceeded 35 miles per hour, according to the affidavit.

Mr. Leffler was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of a minor, unlawful restraint, reckless endangerment and indecent assault. He was arraigned Monday and is being held on $25,000 bond with the additional court-ordered requirement of a behavioral evaluation.

Under terms of the union contract, Mr. Leffler also was suspended with pay pending a disciplinary hearing, authority spokesman Jim Ritchie said. He said the hearing was expected within a week.