Brett William Kirkham, 40
The legal picture for Jefferson County Schools’ jailed human resources director has become even darker. Brett William Kirkham already faces charges that include having sex with a student. Now he faces federal child-pornography charges too. Joyce White Vance, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, today announced the indictment against Kirkham, a longtime area educator.
He’d recently asked to have his $500,000 bail lowered so he could be free while awaiting trial on sex and child-porn charges stemming from Jefferson County and Tuscaloosa County. Those allegations include a years-long sexual relationship with a then-minor male student.
The human resources director and former middle-school principal is on administrative leave and now faces four federal counts too: one count of coercion and enticement, two counts of receipt of child pornography, and one count of possessing child pornography. Kirkham could face a maximum of life in prison and $1,000,000 in fines. He’s scheduled for arraignment in federal court August 11.
The FBI, Tuscaloosa Police, and Hueytown Police investigated the case. Local prosecutors have described Kirkham as a predator. Defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. A spokesperson for Jefferson County Schools said she could not comment on the ongoing case.
