UPDATE (11/13/2019):

Phillip Todd Wilson was indicted on Tuesday by a grand jury on 17 counts of possessing and distributing child pornography, as the Associated Press reports.

ORIGINAL (08/29/2019):

Just go ahead and try to conceal your absolute shock when you learn that a homophobic school official has been arrested for trafficking child pornography.

Phillip Todd Wilson is — for the moment — the principal of Clark County Area Technology Center, a facility run by the Kentucky Department of Education. But 10 years ago, he was principal of Montgomery County High School and banned several books from the school for "homosexual content."

If only anyone had known what sort of conduct Wilson would be accused of just a few years later. An unidentified individual at the Clark County Area Technology Center notified police that Wilson had passed child pornography along to another person, and state troopers later found 15 such images when he was arrested.

"The Clark County Public School System is shocked and dismayed over the recent arrest and allegations," the district said in a statement.

Dismay is, of course, appropriate, but shock may be a bit naive — prominent homophobes often seem to be covering up some terrible secrets. For example, Kenneth Adkins, a pastor who made headlines for saying the Pulse shooting victims got what they deserved, was recently found guilty of child molestation. Pastor Matthew Dennis Patterson of the Nolensville Road Baptist Church was recently arrested and accused of child molestation spanning two decades, during which time he fought against equal rights for LGBTQ+ people.

And in 2017, former Oklahoma state senator Ralph Shortey, a steadfast opponent of laws protecting queer people, pled guilty to child sex trafficking.

For his part, Wilson’s history with homophobia earned big headlines in 2009.

Risha Mullins, a teacher at the school at the time, had used books in her lessons that included Lessons From a Dead Girl by Jo Knowles, Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson, Deadline by Chris Crutcher and Unwind by Neal Shusterman as optional selections for her students, according to a contemporary report by the blog. A parent complained to Wilson, the school board, and the teacher, claiming that Lessons From a Dead Girl was "soft pornography."

Wiliams responded by ordering the books — all of which were optional reading -— removed from classrooms, a violation of the district’s policy for reviewing controversial literature. Officials also threatened to shut down a school book club.

Author Laurie Halse Anderson, whose book was targeted by Wilson, noted that a point of objection at the time involved a description of child rape. “Anyone who finds the rape of a 14-year-old sexually exciting has serious problems,” she tweeted in response to the news of Wilson’s arrest. “Poisonous leaders use their power to protect their evil.”

“Books that help kids examine the violence, abuse and shame they've endured are very threatening to the people who commit those acts of violence, abuse, and shaming,” she added.

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