By By Kerry Whipple Bean
publisher
Former special education teacher Larry Tindell was released on bond Monday night, his first day out of the Escambia County Correctional Facility since his Feb. 10 arrest on drug charges.
Meanwhile, a Brewton Middle School teacher charged in a drug case did not have his contract to teach at the school renewed.
Tindell, 48, of Brewton was released on $400,000 bond. Conditions of his release, according to orders signed by Judge Bradley Byrne in recent documents, include: Tindell must surrender his passport to the sheriff; report weekly to Community Corrections and be subject to random drug tests; and have no contact with minors. Byrne’s ruling allows Tindell to live with his minor son, however.
Tindell was initially arrested on a grand jury indictment for charges of illegal possession of a controlled substance and illegal distribution of a controlled substance. After a search of his home, officers charged him with three counts of possession of child pornography, which officers described as photos of teenage males.
On May 1, Tindell was indicted by a new grand jury session with seven counts of possession of child pornography — which included the original three charges — two counts of second-degree promoting prostitution; two counts of furnishing drugs to a minor; and one count of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance.
The original indictment came after an undercover operation in which officers said Tindell gave a 20-year-old man a Lortab pill. The man was wearing a recording device. Lortab is a prescription painkiller.
Tindell retired from his position as a special education teacher at W.S. Neal High School after his arrest.
Daniel Wilson, a BMS teacher and T.R. Miller coach charged with distribution of marijuana after an undercover sting operation, will not be returning to the school. His contract was among those not renewed by the Brewton City Board of Education.