A former Knox County Schools bus driver is behind bars after a federal investigation team said it dug up dozens of child pornography files on his computer, phone and online storage.
According to a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security, 39-year-old Lucas Anthony Nichols was arrested in October and is serving as a federal inmate at the Knox County Jail while he awaits his trial.
A DOHS investigation revealed Nichols had received and transmitted more than 50 images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit activity or sexual intercourse. Some of the children were possibly as young as two years old.
The investigation revealed Nichols had also secretly photographed and shot video of minors naked. According to investigators, Nichols claimed he had traded child porn images with others online through sites like Google+, Dropbox and an uploading service called "MEGA," but could not remember exactly how many files he had traded.
A warrant was issued for Nichols arrest on Oct. 23 in Knox County on one count of receipt and distribution of child pornography as well as two counts of possession of child porn.
Nichols was arraigned in court on Nov. 15.
WBIR 10News reached out to Knox County Schools. School officials said Nichols had worked as a bus driver for the system starting on Sept. 7, 2017 with RNR Buses. His bus route served A.L. Lotts Elementary and Cedar Bluff Middle schools.
Nichols was removed from their driver eligibility the day he was served a warrant on Oct. 23.