VALPARAISO – A jury has convicted an 18-year-old man on charges of terrorizing girls on a northwest Indiana school bus.

The Porter County jury found Ashley Toney guilty Thursday on sexual battery and other charges for exposing himself and repeatedly fondling two girls on the Portage school bus during the 2008-09 school year.

He faces six months to three years in prison on the most serious charges.

Prosecutors said Toney was the ringleader with two other boys in the attacks. They both pleaded guilty to charges and testified against Toney in return for lesser penalties. Both were released in March after being sentenced to probation and time served.

Defense attorney Dolores Aylesworth argued the investigation targeted just the three teens after a parent confronted them, or more students would have been named.