GREENVILLE – A federal jury has convicted a former Amory High School teacher of sexually exploiting at least seven students over 10 years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

Toshemie Wilson, 48, of Wren, Mississippi, was found guilty of eight counts of using students to produce sexually explicit material  in exchange for money and drugs, using his position as an adviser for Technology Students of America to groom students.

A former student told a counselor about the abuse. The counselor reported the information to law enforcement, prompting the investigation, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office and FBI agents uncovered at least 10 other former students who alleged similar conduct and payment for sexually explicit videos, according to the release.

Eight unnamed witnesses testified in court that Wilson approached them to make masturbation videos in exchange for pay between 2005 and 2014, according to the release. They identified a number of places he had them make the videos – the school bathroom, an office space rented specifically for this purpose, and the Amory WalMart bathroom, according to the release. Several of the witnesses stated they were induced to make videos while on out-of-town school trips with the Technology Students of America, the release said.

Following his indictment, Wilson admitted to FBI agents that he had thrown away a hard drive containing a collection of student sexual abuse materials, according to the release.

Wilson also faces a state indictment in Monroe County Circuit Court.

“Once again, hard work and perseverance by federal, state and local investigators and prosecutors has removed from society an individual with a demonstrable sexual interest in children,” U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner said in the news release. “I am extremely proud of Assistant United States Attorneys Parker King and Clyde McGee for their trial work on the case, and thankful for the investigative work of the FBI and the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office…we must all continue to prosecute these offenders to the fullest extent of the law.”

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