A West Virginia school guidance councillor, who was once honored at the White House by the Obama’s, has been arrested on child rape crimes.
Todd Christopher Roatsey, 42, came to the attention of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents in August, when agents received a cybertip to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. A user on the Kik mobile messaging app had uploaded eight videos and one photo depicting “prepubescent and pubescent minors engaged in sexual activity,” the complaint states.
HSI agents traced the IP address associated with the uploads, which led them to Roatsey’s home in Elkview, West Virginia. On Oct. 27, HSI agents searched Roatsey’s house, and seized numerous electronic devices including a Samsung tablet used for the uploads.
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In 2016, presumably at the time he was involved in child pornography, Roatsey met first lady Michelle Obama after being invited to the White House:
“It was a black-tie event,” Roatsey said at the time, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail. “I was very humbled and very honored to be there and to be there on behalf of all of West Virginia.”
Thedailybeast.com reports: Roatsey was at home when the raid was executed. He told agents that they rented out one of their rooms on Airbnb, and that there had been “numerous guests present during the preceding months” who were given access to the WiFi network, the complaint says. But when investigators searched Roatsey’s phone and laptop, they allegedly found seven videos and 26 images containing child pornography, as well as “numerous communications” between Roatsey and “girls in the age range of late elementary school through middle school,” according to the complaint. (The Daily Beast has redacted portions of the filing, which contains extremely graphic and disturbing descriptions of what law enforcement allegedly discovered.)
Roatsey is employed at Pinch Elementary in Elkview, whose mission statement is “Unleashing student potential.” His Airbnb profile notes that he enjoys “traveling, and… meeting new people,” and points out that he “was the WV National School Counselor of the Year and was honored at the White House in January by First Lady Michelle Obama.”
A Pinch Elementary official hung up the phone immediately when reached for comment on Wednesday evening. On Thursday morning, the school district issued a statement, saying, “We are aware of charges brought against a KCS school staff member. As it is a personnel matter, we are not able to discuss. We will follow all applicable policies and procedures in handling the situation.”
