VIRGINIA — Christopher Chad, the dean of students at Rock Ridge High School, was arrested Tuesday following a child exploitation investigation, in which authorities believe he sent messages to an underage person while on school grounds.
Chad was booked into St. Louis County jail Tuesday night pending a felony charge of “obscene internet contact with a child” in Fulton County, Georgia.
Rock Ridge Superintendent Dr. Noel Schmidt, in an email to staff Wednesday, acknowledged reports that a search warrant alleged Chad sent messages while at work and on school grounds. Iron Range Today has not independently verified the contents of the search warrant.
“Law enforcement has stated that they have no information indicating that the alleged criminal activity involved any of our students,” Schmidt said. The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office, in a press release Wednesday morning, said it had “no reason to believe there are any local victims.”
Chad was hired as Dean of Students in August at a salary of $90,420 after spending 13 years between Rock Ridge and the former Eveleth-Gilbert district, as a math teacher. He was a teacher for 20 years, according to a letter of interest written to the Rock Ridge board when it voted on his new position.
In addition to teaching, Chad coached the One Act Play for both schools and was the assistant spring play director, roles he stepped back from this year. Formerly, he was the JV Speech coach at Eveleth-Gilbert high school.
Editor’s Note: Jerry Burnes, co-founder of Iron Range Today and author of this story, is the vice-chair/secretary of the Rock Ridge Performing Arts Guild, which helps support the Speech team, One Act and spring plays, but is not directly affiliated with the district. Burnes has not worked directly with Chris Chad while in this role.
Leah Ryan, co-founder of Iron Range Today and editor of this story, is currently the JV Speech coach at Rock Ridge high school. Ryan has never worked directly with Chris Chad while in this role.
This is a developing story and was updated at 1:57 p.m.
