The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 07:23 PM

Former Knox County School Bus Driver Uploaded 300 Child Porn Videos To Internet According To Complaint

A former Knox County Schools bus driver uploaded over 300 child porn videos and pictures to the internet, according to a federal criminal complaint.

Lucas Anthony Nichols was arrested on October 27 after Homeland Security agents say he admitted to uploading child pornography to sites for about a year, exchanging explicit videos of children as young as six or seven years old, and recording inappropriate videos of minors.

Court documents claim Nichols had 314 pornographic pictures and videos of children ranging in ages of two years old to 14 years old.

Nichols told investigators he used internet-based chat application KIK messenger and file storage system Dropbox to trade explicit images of children.

A search warrant affidavit revealed that Dropbox reported an account associated with the email address "lucasanichols@gmail.com" to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for uploading hundreds of files depicting child sex abuse and pornography. The complaint states that Nichols also used an account associated with the email address "offroadjunkie@live.com."


A representative with Knox County Schools said Nichols served as a school bus driver from September 7 to October 23, 2017.

Nichols was charged with receipt and distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

He waived his right to a detention and preliminary hearing during a court proceeding on October 27. Court documents say he had an arraignment hearing on November 15.