Alabama Pride Leader Arrested on Child Sex Charges
By J. Thomas Wade
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
September 22, 2026
PELHAM, Ala. Police in Shelby County have arrested the president of Central Alabama Pride on two charges of felony child abuse and a misdemeanor charge of sexual misconduct.
Dezmond Turner faces the charges after police took him into custody on Wednesday.
Turner has been forced to resign after his arrest.
The sexual misconduct charge stems from two alleged incidents in 2023 in which Turner is accused of groping a child’s “crotch and buttocks.”
The child abuse charges relate to alleged violent incidents while Turner worked as a school bus driver, with charging documents describing Turner slamming a child’s head against a wall and slapping another child in the face.
According to jail records, turner has been released on a $32,000 bond.
Turner used Central Alabama Pride social media to announce his resignation, which made no mention of the incident or his forced removal by the board.
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