Elementary school counselor posed as teen on Snapchat, sent explicit videos, feds say
A former elementary school counselor pleaded guilty after federal prosecutors said he admitted to acting as an 18-year-old male while using Snapchat to message young girls and send explicit videos of himself.
Several of the girls he chatted with online, including those he knew from his job as a counselor at Pinch Elementary School in Elkview, were of elementary and middle school age, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Before investigators were alerted to the former school employee, the White House previously honored him as a state school counselor in 2016, WCHS and other outlets reported.
Now, Elkview resident Todd Christopher Roatsey, 43, is facing up to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted production of child pornography and attempted enticement of a minor charges on June 13, a news release from the attorney’s office said.
This comes after he faced 13 charges in connection with his alleged crimes, which were described as “truly horrific” by U.S. Attorney Will Thompson, according to court documents.
McClatchy News contacted two attorneys listed for Roatsey on June 14. One declined to comment.
Roatsey is accused of having more than 100 Snapchat conversations with young girls while pretending to be a teenager beginning in January 2020, prosecutors said. Additionally, he convinced some of his victims to send explicit videos of themselves over the messaging app, according to the release.
At least one of the girls, 12, was an elementary school student at the time Roatsey was messaging her, the release said.
He had recorded his conversations with this student and another girl, calling them “hot” and “sexy,” according to prosecutors. Additionally, he had them send him “‘TikTok’ style dance routines wearing only sports bras and shorts” and videos of them doing “various gymnastics poses,” according to the release.
In August 2021, the messaging platform Kik issued a CyberTip report about Roatsey after workers for the platform discovered he uploaded videos and a photo depicting minors “engaged in sexual activity,” a criminal complaint said.
As a result, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began investigating Roatsey.
In October 2021, Roatsey deleted his Snapchat account after the agency searched his home with a search warrant, the release said.
His laptop and other electronic devices were taken by investigators, who discovered Roatsey possessed several files of child pornography, according to prosecutors.
He “admitted to distributing, receiving, possessing, and accessing child pornography, including images and videos depicting infants and toddlers, through a variety of media between at least October 9, 2019, through July 16, 2021,” according to the release.
When Kanawha County Schools learned of the federal investigation into Roatsey, he was immediately suspended, Briana Warner, the communications director for the school district, told McClatchy News in a statement.
“Through his counsel, a resignation letter was submitted as we were actively setting up a termination hearing,” Warner said.
“We worked closely with law enforcement to provide additional information to support their continued investigation while also providing support to our affected school communities.“
Roatsey is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 14 and will become a registered sex offender.
Elkview is roughly 13 miles northeast of Charleston.
This story was originally published June 14, 2022 at 1:55 PM with the headline "Elementary school counselor posed as teen on Snapchat, sent explicit videos, feds say."
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