A former DeSoto County Schools residency investigator who once trained with Mississippi's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is now accused of conspiring to commit sexual battery of a minor, after federal investigators say they traced explicit messaging activity involving a specific child back to him.
Brannon Rushing was charged with conspiracy to commit a felony after records show he conspired to commit sexual battery of a minor, according to FOX13 Memphis, which reported that an FBI task force alerted the DeSoto County Criminal Investigation Division on September 10 about a district employee's involvement in child sex abuse material. According to an affidavit cited by the station, Rushing was involved in multiple inappropriate and explicit group conversations about minors that included photos, and he admitted to interacting with individuals who had a sexual interest in young female children around ages 3 to 14.
The federal investigation traces back to messaging activity flagged by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on the app Kik dated on or about March 20, 2026, in which Rushing allegedly named a specific minor female while conspiring with others, according to TVMO News Network. The information was subsequently provided to an FBI task force, per the outlet's reporting.
A School Security Role, Not a Classroom Post
Rushing worked for DeSoto County Schools as a Residency Investigator within the district's School Resource Officer and Security Division, the same reporting from TVMO News Network states. FOX13 Memphis reported that he was more generally described as employed as a DeSoto County school police officer, and that he allegedly used a school-issued cellphone to engage in sexual conversations during school hours.
DeSoto County Schools reported that Rushing had no direct contact with or supervisory authority over students, and the district confirmed he was terminated on September 10, shortly after his arrest, per the same TVMO News Network account. FOX13 Memphis said it contacted the district after hours and indicated it would provide updates as more information becomes available.
Booked and Released Within a Day and a Half
DeSoto County Jail records show Rushing was booked at 4:44 p.m. on September 10 and released roughly 30 hours later, at 11:07 p.m. on September 11, after a judge granted release on his own recognizance without requiring monetary bail, the outlet's report states.
Under Mississippi Code § 99-1-5 and § 97-1-1, there is no statute of limitations for prosecuting conspiracy to commit sexual battery of a child, since state law ties the conspiracy time limit to that of the underlying felony, according to FindLaw. Mississippi Code § 97-3-95 addresses sexual battery, according to Coxwell & Associates.
A Career Once Built Around Catching Predators
What makes the case especially jarring to those who know his record is Rushing's own history investigating the exact kind of crime he now stands accused of. He previously served as a detective with the Southaven Police Department and was assigned in 2015 to the Mississippi Attorney General's Office's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, where he received specialized training to conduct undercover operations against online child sex offenders, according to FindLaw's court records.
In late 2023, Rushing was mentioned in a Tate Record report involving the Senatobia Police Department. Years earlier, Police1's archived coverage mentioned Rushing and the Southaven Police Department.
DeSoto County Schools is the largest public school district in Mississippi, serving 34,909 students across 43 schools during the 2026–2027 academic year, according to Ballotpedia. The case adds to a string of child sex crime cases that have drawn scrutiny in the county this year, including a minister's sexual battery charge and a pastor's son's indictment, as well as a 60-year sentence handed down last month in a separate DeSoto County Circuit Court kidnapping and assault case.
No further court dates or grand jury action had been reported as of this writing, and FOX13 Memphis said it would continue providing updates as the case develops.
