A former Gwinnett County football player, who rose to stardom as a running back at Lilburn’s Parkview High School and later went on to play at Auburn University, was recently jailed on child pornography charges.
Brad Lester, 32, of Buford was arrested Thursday in connection with a Nov. 6 incident at a Dacula restaurant in which he allegedly used a cellphone to record a video of a Gwinnett teen using the toilet in the men’s restroom, according to arrest warrants obtained by the Daily Post.
Lester was charged with two felonies: one count of unlawful eavesdropping or surveillance and one count of distribution of child pornography.
While details about the incident are sparse, the warrants detail that sometime between 6 and 7 p.m. Nov. 6, Lester entered the men’s restroom at a Braselton Highway restaurant and took a video of the victim while he was going to the bathroom in a locked stall. It was not immediately known what restaurant the incident occurred at, given two fast-food restaurants occupy the same address.
Police did not release an incident report due to the nature of the crime and the juvenile’s age, though court records show Lester’s attorney filed a motion for bond in Gwinnett County Superior Court on Tuesday.
He remains at the jail without bond.
Lester, who has previously worked for Gwinnett County Schools, first made a name for himself at Parkview during a time when the football program won three straight state titles, from 2000-02.
After high school, he continued his success at Auburn, where he scored 20 career touchdowns and ranked among the school leaders in touchdowns per touch. He later played in the Canadian Football League.
Since his playing career ended, Lester has worked in athletic training through his company, Athletes Elite Performance, and has coached at the high school level at Hebron Christian and South Gwinnett.
In January of this year, he and another former Gwinnett football star, Rennie Curran, who graduated from Brookwood High School, held a football camp for young players at Lester’s business.
Lester also worked as a long-term substitute teacher for Gwinnett County Public Schools, though he recently went into sales for a Gwinnett car dealership. The Daily Post could not immediately reach Gwinnett County Public Schools spokeswoman Sloan Roach for comment as to whether the district still employs Lester.
Lester’s attorney did not return the Daily Post’s call for comment on the charges.