CHANHASSEN, Minn. - The principal for Chanhassen High School has been charged with seven counts of felony child porn possession.
Timothy Dorway, 44, appeared in a green jail jumpsuit Thursday in a Carver County courtroom, where his bail was set at $100,000. Assistant Carver County Attorney Angela Erickson called the allegations against Dorway "concerning and egregious," adding this has been going on for 10 years. She asked for the bail to be set at $1 million.
According to the criminal charges, the Minnesota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was tipped off after a Dropbox user uploaded 11 pornographic videos involving girls between the ages of 11 and 14 to Dorway's account.
That Dropbox account was accessed both from Dorway's home and from a computer owned by the Eastern Carver County School District. The complaint states Dorway admitted to viewing the child pornography videos and at times, would upload them to his own Dropbox account and delete them later.
The district states their internet service filters all websites for inappropriate content. The Dropbox program Dorway used, which is a file sharing service, was a personal account -- files can be accessed from that account from anywhere and on any device. He "did not access an inappropriate website from inside the district's network."
The district said Dropbox is not an application provided to their employees and they confirmed Dorway's account was not purchased with district funds.
At Thursday's hearing, Dorway's ex-wife asked that the judge still allow Dorway to have contact with his children, according to his attorney. If released, he was ordered to have no unsupervised contact with minors, including his own children, and was barred from using the internet. Any supervised contact with his children must be conducted by an adult, who knows of Dorway's charges.
Dorway was taken into custody on Tuesday by agents from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force at his home in Victoria, following the execution of search warrants at his residence and the school where he is employed. He remains in custody.
His next court appearance has been set for Dec. 23.
Superintendent Jim Bauck said that Dorway is on leave, and the school district has a separate investigation process underway to determine the principal's employment status.
After Dorway's arrest, the superintendent released a statement to district families, which read:
“Today we received some very bad news. Our district administration was informed this morning that Carver County Sheriff’s Office arrested Tim Dorway, the school’s principal. The reason for his arrest was probable cause for possession of child pornography. This is an ongoing investigation and we expect more information will be available in a day or two. Law enforcement have informed us that no district students are involved.Mr. Dorway is on administrative leave. The school district has a separate investigation process that needs to be followed to determine Mr. Dorway’s status as a district employee. That process has started, and it takes time to complete. We will be cooperating with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on its investigation.
This news is a shock to the school and to our district. One of the most difficult things about these situations is that information is very limited. There is nothing more that can be shared at this time. More information will likely come out through the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
We have advised Chanhassen students not to share anything on social media."