Ex-Tennessee principal caught trying to meet up with infant in child-sex sting, FBI says

A former elementary school principal in Tennessee was arrested Tuesday when he was caught trying to have sex with an infant girl, according to an Federal Bureau of Investigation.

As a result of the sting operation, Mark Avery Pickel, 51, has been charged with transportation of child porn in interstate commerce, interstate travel with intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor and coercion and enticement of a minor, court records show.

An FBI special agent wrote in a criminal complaint that an officer with the Chattanooga Police Department was undercover on the social media platform Kik portraying themselves as a mother with an infant daughter, according to court records. The undercover officer began talking to Pickel in a Kik group called “Loving Kids 1 Private Room,” the FBI alleges.

Pickel used the display name “hmu5454” on Kik, where he “expressed interest in participating in sexual activity with the infant daughter,” the complaint says.

Pickel, through his Kik display name, reached out to the undercover agent posing as a mother and said he was from Tennessee like her, the affidavit states. He said in a private chat he “just loves little girls” and asked if she has ”played” with any children, court records show.

“Based on the full context of the conversation and experience in an undercover capacity engaging in discourse with individuals who seek out children to molest, (I’m) aware that the word ‘play’ means to engage in sexual contact with a child,” the FBI agent wrote in the affidavit.

Pickel also said in the private chat that he has “watched some pretty good cp,” which the agent said means child porn, according to court documents.

He sent a picture of himself to the agent, and officers were able to determine it was Pickel through a check of his social media accounts, the FBI special agent said. He also posted two images and two videos showing child porn in the “Loving Kids 1 Private Room” Kik group, according to the affidavit.

Pickel asked the agent posing as the mother if she was a cop or affiliated with law enforcement, to which the agent reassured him and said, “I understand if you don’t wanna meet me and Lucy.” Pickel responded, “I want nothing more, just don’t want to be ambushed. My kids need their daddy even if he does have different desires,” court records show.

Pickel agreed to meet with the supposed mother and her infant at a Northern Georgia “lodging facility,” and he was arrested at the location, according to the affidavit.

Records obtained by WTVC show Pickel was a former principal at City Park Elementary School in Athens and a former teacher and assistant principal at Polk County High School in Benton.

Pickel also was a former principal of Vonore Elementary School and a funeral director in Cleveland, Tennessee, according to The Chattanoogan.

He has been placed in the Hamilton County Jail, and he will be arraigned Feb. 28, according to the Cleveland Banner.