Former Bloom-Carroll AD, coach to plead to sexual conduct with then-student athlete

Jordan Laird, The Columbus Dispatch
·2 min read
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Bloom-Carroll High School Athletic Director Chad Little was placed on leave in September and resigned in November in the wake of sexual battery charges involving a then-student athlete, according Bloom-Carroll Local Schools Superintendent Shawn Haughn. (Photo: Tom Wilson/EagleGazette)
Bloom-Carroll High School Athletic Director Chad Little was placed on leave in September and resigned in November in the wake of sexual battery charges involving a then-student athlete, according Bloom-Carroll Local Schools Superintendent Shawn Haughn. (Photo: Tom Wilson/EagleGazette)
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Former Bloom-Carroll High School's athletic director Chad Little could face more than four years in prison if he proceeds with plans to plead guilty to unlawful sexual conduct with a then-student athlete, according to court documents.

Little, 45, who is also the former girls’ varsity basketball coach, is charged with four felony counts of sexual battery. The charges are related to incidents between March 18, 2018 and September 30, 2020, according to a complaint filed in September in Fairfield County Common Pleas Court. Little has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. Through his attorney, Little asked to cancel his February trial date and set the case for a change of plea hearing, according to a motion filed last week with Fairfield County Common Pleas Court.

Little's case has been scheduled for a plea and sentencing hearing on March 9.

Fairfield County prosecutors and Little's defense attorney are jointly recommending the judge sentence Little to four years and six months in prison, according to the motion.

Going deeper:Bloom-Carroll athletic director charged with sexual battery reprimanded by state earlier

On Sept. 13, an official with the Ohio Department of Education contacted the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office to report a possible sexual battery case between a former student athlete and her coach at Bloom-Carroll High School, according to a report from the sheriff’s office.

The ODE official told a deputy the inappropriate relationship began in 2018 when Little touched the athlete on the way home from a district title game and it ended in 2020. The ODE official said the woman was ready to “state allegations against Chad she was afraid to bring up in 2018," according to the report.

Little resigned from his position with Bloom-Carroll High School on Nov. 10, according to district Superintendent Shawn Haughn.

More teacher misconduct allegations:Former Hilliard Darby teacher accused of multi-year sexual relationship with student

jlaird@dispatch.com

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Former Bloom-Carroll athletic director to plead in sexual battery case