A former Hall County school bus driver and self-proclaimed “Patriot Preacher” pleaded guilty Friday to federal child pornography charges.
John Cooper Spinks, 41, admitted to receipt, possession and distribution of child pornography in a hearing held Friday morning in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Cole.
Spinks faces a maximum prison sentence of 40 years and a mandatory minimum of five years when he is sentenced on the three charges. A sentencing date was not set. Spinks, who is subject to electronic monitoring, remains free pending his sentencing hearing.
Spinks was arrested March 25 by FBI agents at his Oakwood home. He is accused of transmitting sexually explicit images of children during Internet chats with undercover agents.
An FBI agent testified during a March bond hearing that Spinks confessed to him, saying he had “a sickness.”
Since 2006, Spinks drove a school bus route that included McEver Elementary, West Hall Middle and West Hall High schools. He was terminated from the job following his arrest.
Spinks also was chaplain and vice president of Christian Men for America, which last year organized several “God and Country” rallies at area churches. Several candidates for governor, including Nathan Deal, John Oxendine and Eric Johnson, were invited to and attended the rallies.
Under the conditions of a $50,000 bond granted by Cole in March, Spinks must wear an electronic monitor and is only allowed to leave his home for a few hours a week. He is prohibited from having Internet access or being in close contact with children.
Spinks’ 7-year-old daughter lives elsewhere and he can only see her during supervised visits.
In a statement issued following Friday’s plea hearing, Sally Quillian Yates, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said Spinks, as a school bus driver, “assumed a position of trust with respect to the parents and children of Hall County.
“He betrayed that trust by distributing sexually exploitive images of children using his home computer,” Yates said. “Thanks to the work of undercover FBI agents, the defendant has now pleaded guilty to the charges and faces serious consequences for his conduct.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Steinberg told the judge that none of the child victims in the images had been identified. Those images have been given to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which will notify any identifiable victims so they may have an opportunity to be heard during Spinks’ sentencing.