Brett Willaim Kirkham, a former Jefferson County Schools’ human resources director and Hueytown Middle School principal, has been sentenced to more than 30 years in prison for enticing a minor to engage in prostitution and possessing child pornography.
U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced Kirkham, 41, of Tuscaloosa, to 30 years and five months in prison. Kirkham pleaded guilty to the enticement and child pornography charges in March.
Kirkham’s sexual conduct underlying the child enticement spanned years. The victim had been a student of Kirkham’s at Hueytown Middle School. Kirkham began sending the child messages on social media in 2011, where he solicited nude photos and sent pictures of his own genitalia in return, according to Kirkham’s plea agreement.
Among the more than 700 images and nearly 200 videos of child pornography that Kirkham possessed were images of Kirkham’s enticement victim and another of his former students, according to the sentencing memorandum. Other child pornography he possessed involved three children in Mississippi.
The FBI and the Tuscaloosa and Hueytown police departments investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney John B. Ward and Jacqueline Hutzell prosecuted.
Kirkham’s sentence includes credit for 13 months of time served since his arrest. The penalty for child enticement is not specified, but the maximum penalty for possessing child pornography is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
In an unrelated child exploitation case, former University of Alabama music professor Nikos Pappas, 41, of Tuscaloosa, pleaded guilty today to charges of receiving and possessing child pornography. Pappas entered his plea before Judge Coogler. His sentencing date has not been set.
The penalty for receiving child pornography is five to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Defendant: Brett William Kirkham
Criminal Charges: Enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution and possession of child pornography
City and State: Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Exact Date: March (plea), March (sentencing)
Sentence: 30 years and five months in prison, credit for 13 months of time served since his arrest
Dollar Amounts: None specified for child enticement, but the maximum penalty for possessing child pornography is a $250,000 fine.
Key Facts
- State: Alabama
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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