Veteran Hartselle firefighter charged with possessing child porn

Craig Anthony Knox, 45, remained in Morgan County Jail on Monday in lieu of a $675,000 bond following an investigation begun in February by the Priceville Police Department, according to the department.

Priceville police Assistant Chief Jason Wilbanks arrested Knox at a residence in the 4000 block of Alabama 55 East in Eva, according to Priceville police.

“I just know he (Knox) resigned on Feb. 18,” said Hartselle Mayor Randy Garrison. “At this time, I’m just not going to comment on any of it I don’t think.”

Several firefighters who worked with Knox declined to speak on the record for fear of jeopardizing their employment.

“I was with him for about six months on shift,” said Hartselle firefighter Gray Keenum. “But right now, that’s all I can say.”

Priceville police Chief Jerry Holmes said the nine charges against Knox all involve materials depicting one victim. He said investigators are still combing through data retrieved from Knox’s electronic devices in a search warrant.

“We’ve got a while to go, so we’re not sure what all we have just yet,” he said. “It’s still an active case. It’s going to be active for a while. These things can’t happen overnight, so we really don’t want to release any more than we have right now.”

Holmes said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if more charges are filed against Knox.

Hartselle Fire & Rescue Chief Daryl Fox said Knox’s arrest came as a shock to him and his department.

“You think you know somebody and then you don’t,” he said. “To my knowledge, nothing ever happened while on shift.”

Fox said Priceville police had communicated to him that they were looking into Knox a couple of days before Knox resigned.

“So, when he called me to resign, I kind of knew a little bit from the Police Department’s investigation,” he said. “I already kind of knew from the police what was going to happen and what they were looking for. He (Knox) told me some things when he resigned, but it wasn’t about the charges. I’ll just let all that come out in court.”

Knox was a lieutenant and supervisor at Station 2, according to Fox, directly in charge of two others. When the deputy chief was away for whatever reason, Knox oversaw the entire shift.

“It’s caused some problems for us we’re having to deal with, you know, like the public eye,” Fox said. “We definitely don’t approve of this behavior. The public needs to know that they’re safe and we’re still going to do our job as we’re supposed to.”

Wilbanks began investigating Knox after Priceville police received a report about a possible “inappropriate or illegal” relationship with a child on Feb. 15, according to an affidavit signed by Wilbanks and filed in Morgan County District Court on Monday.

“A search warrant was conducted on Knox’s residence and a (Samsung) Galaxy Tab A8 was seized,” the affidavit reads. “A search warrant was obtained for (the tablet) and from that search the listed images were found.”

Nine pictures depicting child porn were seized from Knox’s tablet, according to the affidavit. The date of the offense, according to the official complaint, was Feb. 18 — the same day Knox resigned from the Fire Department.

A Morgan County judge signed Knox’s arrest warrant on Friday and indicated special bond conditions, should he be released. Knox is required to enroll in Community Corrections’ pretrial release program and wear an ankle monitor and is forbidden to have contact with the victim or her family.