Dezmond Turner, who led Central Alabama Pride until last week, is charged with two felony counts of child abuse/torture, accused of slamming a child’s head against the wall of a Shelby County Schools bus.

Pelham police arrested Turner, 32, of Ashville, on Wednesday, September 16, on those counts and a misdemeanor sexual misconduct charge. He posted bonds totaling $32,000 and was released from the Shelby County Jail.

Shelby County Schools employs Turner as an aide at Linda Nolen Learning Center in Pelham, which has served students with special needs since 1977. The district placed him on administrative leave.

According to arrest records, Turner grabbed a child’s “head and slammed it multiple times against the wall of the bus” on August 31.

Charging documents also accuse him of slapping a child with an open hand on September 1 and using his body weight to pin a child’s head against the bus wall so a nurse could pass. Court records do not make clear whether one child or two were involved.

The sexual misconduct charge stems from two alleged incidents on December 1 and December 27, 2023, in which Turner is accused of grabbing a victim’s crotch and buttocks without consent.

“The school system is cooperating with the appropriate agencies investigating the matter,” Shelby County Schools said in a statement.

Central Alabama Pride, the Birmingham nonprofit that staged its 48th annual Pride celebration in June, initially allowed Turner to announce his exit as a resignation. Turner posted it on the group’s Facebook page with no mention of the charges, and the post was later removed.

Central Alabama Pride Vice President Hunter Rowe then said the board had called an emergency meeting to remove Turner, that letting him resign was Rowe’s idea and that Turner was supposed to announce it on his personal social media. Rowe conceded that framing it “primarily as a resignation was not the best approach.”

Court records do not list an attorney for Turner.