'Lewd' Bus Passenger From South Jersey Suspended From Riding NJ Transit, Court Rules

MOUNT HOLLY, NJ — A judge granted NJ Transit's request for a one-year ban on a passenger charged with at least seven lewd acts aboard its buses.

Sean Guinyard, of Washington Township, was charged with at least seven separate lewd acts aboard NJ Transit buses from May 2021 through last August. The offenses were directed at female bus operators, according to the state agency.

The latest incident, which occurred Aug. 31 on bus route No. 409 in Willingboro, resulted in Guinyard's one-year suspension, NJ Transit says.

Guinyard, 36, pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree contempt charge in Burlington County. As part of his sentence, a Superior Court judge banned his ability to ride in NJ Transit's vehicles. Violation of the suspension is treated as an infringement of probation and could result in immediate incarceration.

New Jersey passed a law in January 2022 — the Motorbus and Passenger Rail Service Employee Violence Prevention Act — which, in part, enabled transportation agencies to suspend or prohibit ridership from anyone who assaults a transit employee.

Last December, the NJ Transit Board of Directors approved a plan to begin the rule-making process to administratively suspend ridership privileges for those who assault its employees. The regulations will safeguard due process to appeal proposed suspensions, the agency says. The rules are getting finalized for final adoption.

Several employees have accused NJ Transit of failing to protect workers from sex offenses from passengers. Last May, six bus drivers sued the agency, claiming NJ Transit failed to take action against a man who masturbated on their buses over a three-year period. Read more: Chronic Masturbator Ignored By NJ Transit, Lawsuit Says

The complaint cited a state Supreme Court ruling from a Toys 'R' Us employee's lawsuit against the company — Lehmann v. Toys 'R' Us, Inc. In the landmark sexual-harassment case, the court ruled in 1993 that employers with "actual knowledge" of harassment must "promptly and effectively act to stop it.