Gainesville Schools Supt. Jeremy Williams said Thursday a routine fingerprint background check of the former bus driver facing child porn charges showed no prior arrests.
Albert Hutchinson, 46, Gainesville, is being held in the Jackson County Jail on 21 counts of possession of child pornography.
“All GCSS (Gainesville City School System) employees undergo a NCIC/GCIC (federal and state) fingerprint background check…allowing us to review any previous criminal charges, even if they are dismissed,” Williams said in a statement released Thursday afternoon. “When we were alerted by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office via (Gainesville Police) Chief Jay Parrish, we immediately pulled the fingerprint background check and his application. We confirmed there were no previous criminal charges or flags raised by references.”
Williams added “We did not release any information because the criminal charges were not connected to his employment with GCSS. Furthermore, we never received any concerns or complaints regarding inappropriate contact with students. If the charges had involved GCSS technology or questionable interaction with students, families would have been alerted.”
Williams said Parrish also told him that no Gainesville students were victims, and none had been exposed to any criminal acts by Hutchinson, who had been hired five years ago.