JeffCo Schools Personnel Director Faces Federal Child-Porn Charges
Tuscaloosa County Jail
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.
