Former Callaway County teacher, coach, sentenced for child pornography, extortion

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A former Callaway County teacher and coach was sentenced last week to 30 years in prison on child pornography and extortion-related charges.

Chad A. Craghead, 45, was sentenced Friday in federal court in Davenport, Iowa. He pleaded guilty in February to producing child pornography and interstate communication with the intent to extort, according to court records.

Craghead was engaged in "sextortion" for almost two years, according to a release from the U.S. attorney's office for Iowa's Southern District. During that time he taught elementary and middle school and was a high school track coach. The U.S. attorney says Craghead posed as a teenage boy and obtained nude images of a 16-year-old to extort her.

He also threatened another minor, saying he would release the first victim's nude images if the second minor didn't also send nude images and videos, according to the release. The girl sent Craghead explicit videos and he continued to extort her for more, the U.S. attorney's office said.

The FBI, using Snapchat accounts linked to Craghead, found girls across the country, some as young as 12 and 13 years old, who Craghead has extorted or sent nude images, according to the release. In one case Craghead took the girl's identity, made a social media account and obtained child pornography in an attempt to blackmail the senders, the U.S. attorney said.

The FBI observed the same pattern with all the victims, according to the release. Craghead will be on five years of probation after his prison term and have to register as a sex offender.

Craghead was employed from August 2013 until November 2020 at the North Callaway School District. He was arrested and charged in June 2021.