A Walker County Schools employee was arrested on charges related to possessing images depicting child sexual abuse after an app tipped off law enforcement to his alleged online activity.
Ronnie Brent Massey, 49, of Catoosa County, faces 10 felony charges under the Computer or Electronic Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 2007. He is accused of downloading 12 videos on his phone “that contained CSAM (child sexual abuse material),” according to the Catoosa sheriff’s office.
State salary records show a man named Ronnie Brent Massey has worked for several years as an assistant principal at Walker County Schools, the county adjacent to Catoosa. School board minutes from November describe Massey as the assistant principal and athletic director at LaFayette High School.
In response to questions about Massey, the district confirmed that one of its employees had been arrested but did not disclose the person’s name or the school where they worked.
“Walker County Schools is fully cooperating with law enforcement and will continue to support their efforts as the investigation moves forward. The district is also taking appropriate personnel actions per our policies and procedures,” Superintendent Damon Raines said in a statement.
He declined to share additional details, citing the ongoing criminal investigation and also “to respect the process and the privacy of all involved.”
Massey could not be reached for comment via phone or email. Catoosa courts could not confirm if he had an attorney.
A sheriff’s office case report states that investigators were tipped off to the alleged activity by the messaging app Kik around May 22. Detectives traced the activity to a specific phone and identified its owner as Massey, according to the report. By June 2, they had a search warrant for his house near Boynton, a community just west of I-75 and Ringgold.
“The offender admitted to owning the two Kik Messenger accounts that were reported through the cyber tips and admitted to getting approximately 12 videos using Kik that contained CSAM,” investigators noted in the report.
Several other cellphones, computers and storage devices were collected by investigators.
Catoosa Sheriff Gary Sisk would not comment on Massey’s employment. He declined to answer additional questions about the case or specifics about the videos because of the open investigation.
LaFayette High Principal Maggie Stultz referred requests for comment about Massey to the statement issued by the superintendent. Walker County school board member Phyllis Hunter, reported as the group’s chair as of December, did not respond to questions Friday morning.
According to jail records, Massey was booked June 2 and released two days later on a $10,000 bond.
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