AUSTIN (KXAN) — A fifth-grade teacher at a south Austin elementary school is facing additional child pornography charges.
On March 11, the Texas Department of Public Safety alerted the Austin Independent School District Police Department that Carl Innmon, 50, was under investigation for possession of child pornography, a first-degree felony, according to AISD.
Newly filed police documents from March 14 show the teacher at Baranoff Elementary School now faces charges of possession of child pornography with intent to promote, a second-degree felony, and possession or promotion of lewd visual material depicting a child, a state jail felony.
AISD said it “immediately placed Innmon on administrative leave” once it was notified of the investigation, according to a letter from the district. This was Innmon’s first year of teaching at the elementary school and he was last seen on the campus on March 10, the district said.
As of Monday afternoon, Innmon didn’t have an attorney listed in court records.
According to police affidavits, a search of his devices revealed more than 365,000 images of child sexual abuse. Among them were AI-generated images of two AISD students from the elementary school.
Police said Innmon used an AI generator to alter photos of students, making them sexually explicit.
In a letter to families, the district said DPS and Austin ISD police are working to identify and notify those affected. Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact Austin ISD police.
Since the school district is on break this week, it recommends families in need of support reach out to the mental health services provider Integral Care at 512-472-4357.
According to Travis County jail records, police arrested Innmon on March 14 and released him on bond on March 16. His bond terms require him to have no contact with minors, and he must stay away from places where minors are known to frequent. Another condition of the bond is not using the internet.
Using AI to create pornography is something that has gotten the attention of Congress. The Take It Down Act, introduced by Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, would criminalize the “publication of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), including AI-generated NCII (or ‘deepfake revenge pornography’). That measure was passed by the U.S. Senate last month.
