School employee arrested for sending explicit video to a minor

The Franklin County Sheriff’s office shared a post on its Facebook page August 11, 2023, stating receipt of a report on August 9, 2023, of an explicit video being sent to a 17-year-old person. After obtaining the video in question, they initiated an investigation, making contact the same night with Timothy Mark Wells.

Wells was interviewed and admitted to sending the video to a person under 18. Because of all information obtained in the investigation, the Franklin County District Attorney’s office advised the charges of 13A-6-82.1 School Employee Distributing or Soliciting Obscene Material to or from a Student and 13A-12-200.5 Distributing Harmful Materials to Minors. Warrants for these charges were obtained.

On August 11, 2023, around 11:00 a.m., Wells turned himself in to the Franklin County Detention Center on the above listed charges. He will be seen by a Franklin County Judge for a bond. The investigation is ongoing at this time.

As of August 13, 2023, Wells showed on the Franklin County Sheriff’s office website under 48 Hour Releases, booking number 11507. The listing describes him as a 36-year-old male from Phil Campbell, with an August 11 (11:00 a.m.) booking date and a release date of August 11 (6:00 p.m.).

Charges are listed as Obscene Material-Distibute and Obscene Material-Distribution/Mail-First Offense. Bond is listed as $0.00.

The entry states charges and bail amounts may change after court appearances and may not be current. After receiving a bond, all suspects are allowed to make bail and await further court summons.

All persons arrested are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.