VIRGINIA — Christopher John Chad, a former dean of students at Rock Ridge High School, faces three new felony charges from St. Louis County dating back to 2021, including sexual assault allegations occurring on school grounds.
The charges were filed Monday, July 6, in Virginia as Chad awaits movement on unrelated internet sex crime charges in Georgia, where he has been jailed for more than a year.
According to the charging documents, an unidentified juvenile spoke with a St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office investigator and Gilbert Police Chief Ty Techar on Dec. 4, 2025, and reported being assaulted by Chad multiple times while they were between the age of 14-16.
Charges describe Chad, 33 years older than the juvenile, as the student’s teacher, coach and principal during the time Virginia and Eveleth-Gilbert merged into Rock Ridge, placing him in a position of authority.
Rock Ridge officials and the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office have previously said there was no indication any local students were victims or involved with the case. Georgia law enforcement said Chad “claimed to be engaged in sexual activity with minors in the past.”
Warrants filed in the Georgia case allege Chad told the student there that he knew of “blind spots” in the school’s security system.
Rock Ridge Superintendent Dr. Noel Schmidt declined comment on the new charges, saying over email “Chris Chad no longer works for the school district.”
Prosecutors allege Chad exchanged “thousands” of messages through social media apps Grindr and Snapchat, including some that were sexually explicit. Messages were located on the juvenile’s phone, which was provided to investigators.
The juvenile said inappropriate messages started “randomly online, but they soon discovered they knew each other in real life.” Charges allege Chad continued the relationship even after realizing it was one of his students.
Charging documents say the juvenile reported five instances where Chad engaged in sexual penetration, including at least one on school grounds in Gilbert, also providing them with cannabis and THC vape products.
The first incident allegedly occurred in the late spring of 2021 behind a shed at the old Gilbert school, where Chad is accused of performing oral sex on the student.
Other locations around Gilbert and Virginia were the sites of alleged incidents, where the juvenile claimed Chad was “making out” with them, touching genitalia over clothing and making them touch Chad’s genitalia over clothing.
The second incident allegedly occurred about a month after the first, and third about a year later in the spring/summer of 2022. The fourth was almost another later in spring/summer 2023, with the fifth occurring within the same year.
Charges stated that the juvenile stayed in contact with Chad because he provided the illegal smoking products to them, “but also because they felt that Chad cared for them and gave them attention.”
Chad was a 13-year veteran of Eveleth-Gilbert when he was hired as dean of students in 2024, about a year the alleged violations occurred.
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