Bloom-Carroll athletic director indicted on four counts of sexual battery

CARROLL, Ohio (WCMH) -- An athletic director at a Bloom-Carroll district school who was accused of sexual battery has now been indicted by a grand jury.

Chad Little, 45, was indicted in Fairfield County Common Pleas court Thursday on four counts of sexual battery. He was previously arrested last week on two felony charges for sex crimes against a student, according to court records.

Court documents alleged Little’s conduct took place between March 1, 2018, and Sept. 30, 2020, at a Bloom-Carroll district school where he worked and the student was enrolled. The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office, who handled taking Little into custody, added that the student is no longer enrolled at any Bloom-Carroll school.

Last week, NBC4 obtained Little’s personnel record, which shed light on disciplinary action the state and school district took against Little prior to his arrest. In 2013, the Bloom-Carroll superintendent at the time punished Little when a parent reported that he sent an “inappropriate” text message to an individual student-athlete.

That same issue repeated in 2019, when current superintendent Shawn Haughn wrote a letter to Little about more text messages. In September of that year, Little reported to Haughn that a student sent him a text message four months earlier. Haughn wrote that Little responded to the student appropriately, but also noted the long delay in Little’s reporting.

As punishment for that incident, 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.

Little's first preliminary hearing was scheduled for Thursday at 2 p.m., but court records state it was postponed.