TriMet driver accused of sexually abusing girl

PORTLAND, Ore. – A TriMet bus driver was arrested Tuesday accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl, according to police.

Christopher Alden Parker, 53, was taken into custody at his home on Southeast Tolman Street on charges of sex abuse in the third degree, online sexual corruption in the first degree and several counts of violating a stalking order.

Police say Parker, a driver since 1981, met the girl on a bus and say a relationship had been going on for more than a year and started when the girl was 14. Investigators say they were alerted to the relationship and began an investigation March 28.

TriMet is cooperating with police in their investigation but declined to comment on the case Tuesday night.

The agency put Parker on administrative leave in mid-March while it investigated a report from a TriMet supervisor that Parker was letting friends and family ride the bus without a destination and driving off-route – a violation of policy. During that investigation, TriMet asked police to check if Parker was doing anything illegal.

When Parker’s wife came home late Tuesday night she told a KATU News reporter the charges against her husband were not true.

“It’s a lie, I know him. It’s not true,” she said. “He didn’t do it. I don’t care what anybody says, I know my husband. He’s innocent. He didn’t do it; he’s been framed. I know he didn’t do it. I should know.”

Still, her next-door neighbor, Lynda Donkin who has kids of her own, said the allegations concern her.

“You don’t know what kind of people live around you,” she said. “I have great neighbors but the one person who won’t talk to me turns out to be a possible real creep.”

Parker is lodged in the Multnomah County Jail and is expected to be arraigned on Wednesday.