Former Bloom-Carroll Athletic Director sentenced to over 4 years for sexual battery
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Former Bloom-Carroll Athletic Director Chad Little is looking at prison time after an appearance in court Thursday for sexual battery charges.
Little, who was indicted in September on four counts of sexual battery, changed his plea to guilty in February and asked to have his Feb. 7 trial vacated. Part of Little’s plea change included a joint sentencing recommendation of 4 ½ years in prison, which he received Thursday.
At his sentencing hearing were the victim’s mother and the head athletic trainer at Bethany College, who both gave statements. Little offered a brief apology in court.
Little resigned from the district in November 2022 while he was on unpaid leave. Little was originally arrested on two counts of sexual battery after he engaged in sexual conduct with a student enrolled at Bloom-Carroll Local School District where he worked, according to Fairfield County Common Pleas Court documents.
The complaint said Little’s sexual conduct with the unnamed student happened between March 1, 2018, and Sept. 30, 2020.
While the student identified herself in this lawsuit, NBC4 does not name victims of sexual abuse.
The lawsuit's complaint document extensively details accusations against Little, saying that he engaged in "aggressive grooming" of the student he coached in the 2017-2018 school year. This included private calls and texts, which Little previously faced punishment for with past students, according to his personnel record. This went a step further in March 2018 when Little initiated physical contact with the student on a bus coming back from a game, which coincides with the time period listed in Little's criminal case.
Little's texts to the student turned sexual after this incident, the lawsuit said. The athletic director also began sexually abusing the student, who was a minor at the time, on school property, in Little's office after games and at Little's home. The assaults included choking, hitting and restraint. Further, the lawsuit listed Little as making pressuring comments to the student to keep them from telling anyone, including "I will go to jail," and "I will lose my kids," as the abuse went on.
The athletic director's conduct extended to other students, and the lawsuit complaint gave examples of incidents it said various defendants were aware of. Scroll through the timeline below to view more:
The incidents formed a reputation for the athletic director, according to the lawsuit documents.
"Little’s inappropriate relationships with students were common knowledge at BCHS, discussed throughout the school hallways, lunchrooms and even in the presence of teachers and staff, who often participated in the conversations," the complaint document read.
The other defendants were named for not taking appropriate action in response to what the lawsuit document claims was a history of misconduct by the athletic director. Specifically, the lawsuit targeted these people and groups:
- Bloom-Carroll Local School District
- BCLSD Board of Education
- Shawn Haughn, the superintendent
- Nathan Conrad, the principal of Bloom-Carroll High School
- Jan Wisecarver, the vice principal of BCHS
- Cynthia Freeman, the district's Title IX Coordinator
- The Ohio Department of Education
Little was also twice reprimanded, once in 2013 about inappropriate text messages to a student-athlete, and again in 2019 for not reporting text messages, which were deemed appropriate, with a student in a timely manner.
As punishment, Haughn made Little study four articles on professional relationships and write an essay reflecting on them. He also told the athletic director he wasn’t allowed to text, personally email, or send a social media message to any student again, including as a response.