Ex-teacher rejects plea in child porn case, fires lawyers
Published 5:18 pm Monday, January 16, 2023
A former high school teacher in northeast Mississippi has rejected a plea deal on charges that he sexually exploited children.
Federal court records show Toshemie Wilson of Okolona rejected a plea agreement last week and fired his defense attorneys. Court papers don’t reflect the nature of the plea agreement.
The 47-year-old Wilson was indicted in July on 10 counts of sexual exploitation of children, all of which took place when he was teaching at Amory High School. Wilson is accused of photographing or making videos of nine minors between 2006 and 2016. Officials have said he targeted students in the high school’s technology club, giving them cash or drugs to perform sex acts alone or with a blow-up doll.
U.S. District Judge Debra Brown on Friday gave Wilson 30 days to hire a new lawyer or request a public defender.
Wilson, who is jailed in Oxford, faces at least 150 years in prison if convicted on all 10 counts. A trial had been scheduled for Feb. 6.
State education officials learned that Wilson may have abused students in November 2020 after a former student talked to a counselor. Investigators found images of boys performing sexual acts on his phone and computer.
Wilson was originally arrested by state officials in May 2021 after investigators searched his house and storage building and seized more than 300 items, including videos labeled with sexual positions and the names of Amory students.