BIRMINGHAM (AL)
AL.com [Birmingham, AL]
October 8, 2026
By Carol Robinson
A longtime former educator at a private school in Shelby County is back in jail after authorities arrested him for the second time on child pornography charges.
Michael Roy Bridges, the 70-year-old former performing arts director who had had also served during his career as an assistant principal at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic School, was booked into the Shelby County Jail on Thursday.
Bridges was initially arrested in May 2025 on 13 counts of possession of child sex abuse material.
He was out on bond when sheriff’s deputies on Thursday arrested him with one count of dissemination of child sexual abuse material.
“At this time, investigators have no information that suggests the images were produced in or near Shelby County,” sheriff’s officials said in a statement.
Shelby County Circuit Judge Bill Bostick on Thursday revoked Bridge’s bond on the previous charges.
Bridges started working at the school – which serves students from pre-k through eighth grade – in 1998.
A spokesman for the Diocese of Birmingham previously said Bridges was placed on leave May 9, 2025, after the alleged child porn images were discovered on his school laptop.
He was subsequently fired.
“The exploitation of children does not end when an image is created,” Sheriff John Samaniego. “Every time this material is shared, the victimization of that child continues.”
Anyone with additional information is asked to call 205-670-6153 or 205-670-6000.