Hall County School Bus Driver Arrested for Distribution and Receipt of Child Pornography |
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U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia
March 29, 2010
John Cooper Spinks Charged with Distribution, Receipt, and Possession of Child Pornography Using His Computer
GAINESVILLE, GA—JOHN COOPER SPINKS, 41, of Oakwood, Georgia, a bus driver for the Hall County (Georgia) school system, has been charged with distribution, receipt, and possession of child pornography, and appeared today before a United States Magistrate for his preliminary hearing and bond hearing. SPINKS was granted a secured bond of $50,000, and among other provisions, ordered to home confinement with an electronic monitor, no access to his minor daughter, and forbidden to access the Internet.
United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “It is disturbing to learn that a school bus driver, who is responsible for the safety of children every day, has allegedly been leading a double life trading in the predatory images of child pornography. Thanks to the undercover work of federal agents, this defendant has been pulled from his hiding place of anonymity on the Internet, and faces serious federal charges.”
According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and information in court: SPINKS was arrested on March 25, 2010, on a federal criminal complaint. The criminal complaint charges that in January 2009, SPINKS distributed images of child pornography over the Internet to an undercover law enforcement officer who he encountered in a chat room named “#baby&toddlerlove.” In January 2010, SPINKS was again found in a chat room known for trading images of child pornography. On March 25, 2010, federal agents executed a search warrant at SPINKS’ home and seized a laptop computer and several other pieces of electronic media.
If convicted, SPINKS faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Members of the public are reminded that a criminal complaint contains only allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government's burden to prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is being investigated by special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant United States Attorney Jill E. Steinberg is prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact Sally Quillian Yates, United States Attorney, or Charysse L. Alexander, Executive Assistant United States Attorney, through Patrick Crosby, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Attorney's Office, at (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan.