Ex-Derby Middle School special ed teacher, coach gets probation in child porn case
A former Derby Middle School teacher charged with child sex crimes after authorities discovered hundreds of pornographic images and videos of children on his electronics has been sentenced to three years of probation, according to Dan Dillon, spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.
Cody Chitwood, 40, taught special education at the school and coached football, track and girls’ basketball from 2004 until he was fired by the Derby school board in February 2018 after prosecutors charged him with several counts of sexual exploitation of a child. He was caught with more than 250 illegal images and videos after a sheriff’s detective assigned to Sedgwick County’s Exploited and Missing Child Unit noticed Chitwood’s Internet Protocol, or IP, address transmitting “a large amount of suspected child pornography within a website called Chatstep.com,” according to an arrest affidavit released in 2018.
At the time, Chitwood contended he didn’t knowingly or willingly “trade child pornography on any website,” the document says.
He pleaded guilty to two counts on Sept. 1 after negotiating a plea deal where prosecutors agreed to join his lawyer in asking the judge to grant Chitwood probation, court records show.
In a motion filed with the court last week, Chitwood’s lawyer wrote that the ex-teacher had participated in “extensive and substantive sex offender treatment,” had obtained a sex offender evaluation, would soon attend individual and group therapy sessions and planned to “work on developing a daily recovery routine and a relapse plan to ensure his continued success.”
Sedgwick County District Court Judge Eric Williams sentenced Chitwood on Monday, records show.
If Chitwood fails to follow the rules while on probation, he could be sent to prison for 64 months. He also must register as a sex offender for 25 years, Dillon said.
This story was originally published October 18, 2021 at 4:03 PM.
