EX-FULTON SCHOOL PRINCIPAL INDICTED

Michael Fox Charged With 33-Counts of Sexually Exploiting Children

Atlanta-Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announces the indictment today of 54-year-old Michael Fox of Stockbridge, Georgia. The Henry County resident was named in an indictment that charges him with 33-counts of the sexual exploitation of children. The indictment accuses him of knowingly possessing "a visual medium depicting a minor male child under the age of 18, engaged in sexually explicit conduct". That medium was a Fulton County School System computer on which authorities say they found hundreds of images depicting the sex organs and pubic areas of young boys.

Fox, the former principal of Spaulding Elementary School in Atlanta was arrested at Northlake Mall in Dekalb County earlier this year, after a 12-year-old boy told security guards Fox had propositioned him in a bathroom at the mall. Fulton County School officials placed Fox on administrative leave and began an immediate investigation. They say during their investigation, they discovered on the school-issued computer assigned to Fox, hundreds of still images of boys in sexually suggestive poses and at least three video images depicting oral and anal sex. Investigators say they also were able to retrieve images that had been deleted.

Fulton County School System policy states that computer users must agree in writing that the computer will be used "solely in support of the School system's educational mission. All other uses are strictly prohibited." Fox is no longer employed by Fulton County Schools.

CONTACT: Lyn Vaughn, 404-224-0560 (office); 404-533-1381 (pager)