Families in northeast Mississippi are demanding accountability after authorities alleged that a Corinth Middle School teacher used AI tools to generate sexually explicit videos of students—and that officials in the northeast Mississippi school district allowed him to resign without notifying law enforcement or the Mississippi Department of Education for over two months.
Superintendent Dr. Edward Lee Childress claimed he “simply forgot” to report the incident, The Daily Journal reported. The Corinth School Board unanimously voted to terminate him during a special board meeting on March 17. When the board came out of executive session, board attorney Bill Davis read the statement that the board later released in full on the district’s website.
“The district’s greatest priority is the safety and well-being of its students,” the statement said. “The Board of Trustees is heartbroken over the pain that’s been caused to these young victims and their families over this incident with a former teacher at Corinth Middle School. The district is providing these families and the families of any other affected children with appropriate counseling services for these students. The Board of Trustees is also working to quickly implement new policies designed to prevent a similar incident from ever happening again.”
Police and the FBI arrested former Corinth Middle School teacher Wilson Frederick Jones on March 12 and charged with the production of a morphed image of child pornography and possession of morphed images of child pornography.
An FBI affidavit claims that on Nov. 19, 2024, at 2:15 p.m., Corinth Middle School Principal, Chris Killough received a text from Central Office Administrator Dr. Nathan Hall alerting him of a Bark alert on Wilson’s computer. Bark is an application that monitors the network of district computers for illegal content. The complaint says that a school district investigation found that Wilson sent three videos to his personal Google Drive, triggering the alert. The complaint alleges the videos created on the AI generator depicted eight Corinth School District students between the ages of 14 to 16 years old “engaging in inappropriate behavior, including kissing and exposing themselves.”
The criminal complaint also says Jones met with Corinth Middle School Principal Chris Killough and a vice principal at 8:10 a.m. on Nov. 20, and that “Killough stated that Jones admitted he created videos using AI, but claimed it was not sexual.” It also says that “Killough stated that Jones acknowledged that one of the people in the images was a local student” and that the images came from social media accounts.
The complaint also includes the prompt officials allege Jones used to generate images of students on an AI website.
“The following are Wilson Jones keystrokes indicating a prompt to the AI system, ‘Two girls posing in each others arms, stopped to kiss. Kissing showing they are truly in love letting each others hands explore one another. Girls roll up each others baggy dresses to reveal each others picture-perfect bodies garmentless,’” the complaint says.
Jones resigned from the district on Nov. 21.
The affidavit shows that the district reported the matter to the Mississippi Department of Education on Jan. 29. MDE notified the Corinth Police Department via email on Feb. 26.
Corinth Police Chief Landon Tucker sent a statement to the Mississippi Free Press on March 18, stating that the department subpoenaed and received a laptop computer, thumb drive and a case file, including documentation of Corinth School District’s investigation.
“To reiterate, these images were AI-generated, and at no time did these victims willingly produce any images or know that their pictures were being manipulated in such a way,” the statement said.
Tucker alerted the FBI, which then took over the case.
Superintendent Fired
In a Corinth School Board meeting held Thursday, March 13, parents expressed concern over the district’s apparent failure to report the crime to authorities in a timely manner. Attorney Tony Farese, who represents the families of seven of the eight students whose images officials allege Jones used in the videos, called for Superintendent Childress’ firing at that meeting.
“Interestingly enough, the current school board did not go into executive session that night. It was not addressed at all,” Farese told the Mississippi Free Press.
Instead, the board held a special meeting on March 17, including a two and a half hour closed executive session. The board announced Childress’s termination once it returned to regular session.
Farese and the families met with the Corinth mayor and Board of Alderman at their meeting on March 16, demanding further investigation into the matter.
“I suggested that they hire a private law firm that was not related to the local community, that was totally independent to do an independent investigation so that they could report to the mayor and Board of Aldermen what, in fact, had occurred, because there are many unanswered questions,” Farese said. “… We believe it was not handled correctly by Dr. Childress and-or others and we’re asking that the Board of Aldermen hire an independent source to investigate to see what the school board knew and how they reacted and whether they performed their duties correctly or not.”
Farese said the families want a deeper investigation of the failings of the mandatory reporters in the district. The families also want a determination of whether anyone else could be criminally liable. He argued that officials who do not report “suspicions of sexual contact with a minor” have also “committed a crime” that could be “a possible misdemeanor in state court.”
“We believe that Dr. Childress and-or others will be investigated by the federal grand jury for possible federal charges such as misprison of a felony as defined by title 18 U.S.C. Section 4 for being aware that a felony had occurred and not reporting it which is punishable by possible incarceration of up to three years in the federal penitentiary,” Farese said.
A petition on Change.org created on March 14 called for the immediate termination of Corinth Middle School Principal Chris Killough, accusing him of failing to report the matter to Mississippi Child Protective Services. On March 20, the petition had almost 250 signatures.
As of March 27, Killough remains the principal at Corinth Middle School.
Farese said the families of the victims are awaiting the decision of the Board of Alderman and considering filing civil action.
Artificial intelligence safeguards are on legislators’ agenda
Mississippi House Rep. Jill Ford, a Republican from Madison who sponsored a bill HB 1126 during the 2024 legislative session, spoke out on Facebook on March 15 about the issue. The Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act defined the term “morphed image.” It stipulated that the use of morphed images depicting minor children in an explicit nature is a crime of child exploitation.
Gov. Tate Reeves signed the bill into law, but the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi halted the law from taking effect after NetChoice sued the State, claiming the legislation was unconstitutional. The charges against Wilson Jones were based on federal law, not state law, however.
Ford said she supports stronger AI laws to combat online exploitation and plans to hold AI hearings during the summer to strengthen laws on crimes committed using technology.
“Our children’s safety is not negotiable,” Ford said.
Mississippi House Rep. Jansen Owen, R-Popularville, addressed the issue on social media.
“Anyone who creates or distributes material depicting or intending to depict a child engaged in sexual conduct is a predator, a criminal, and should be treated as such,” he wrote in the March 16 Facebook post. “And that conduct is certainly of a ‘sexual nature.’”
The Mississippi House killed two bills this year that would have helped govern the use of artificial intelligence in education. Senate Bill 2059 would have established the Artificial Intelligence Education Task Force to evaluate potential applications of AI in K-12 schools and develop policy recommendations for use in education. That bill passed the Senate but died in committee in the House on March 4.
Ford authored House Bill 768 this year. The bill would have expanded artificial intelligence protections by stipulating that individuals have property rights in using their name, photographs, voice or likeness. Individuals violating the act would have been charged with a misdemeanor. That bill also died in committee.
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