Former Cottonwood teacher pleads guilty in sex crimes case involving hidden camera

A former Cottonwood teacher who secretly recorded students has pleaded guilty to 15 sex crimes and agreed to a 50-year prison sentence, the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.

Chester Clay Cox, 31, pleaded guilty Monday to charges including sexual conduct with a minor under 15, child molestation, multiple counts of sexual exploitation of a minor under 15 and multiple counts of surreptitious photographing or videotaping.

Cox was arrested in June after a parent told the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office that he had repeatedly molested her child from 2017 to 2020.

The child was not his student.

During that investigation, a former student told deputies Cox may have used a hidden camera at Dr. Daniel Bright Elementary School to record students changing for athletic events.

What authorities found investigating Cottonwood teacher

Investigators found images and videos on his phone of students dressing, undressing and using the restroom, and recovered several recording devices from his car, according to the county attorney’s office.

“Arizona law does not currently allow for the death penalty in such cases, and it is time for that to change,” Yavapai County Attorney Dennis McGrane said in a statement. “That change will only happen if my fellow Arizonans call and write their legislators to ask that they change Arizona’s law to allow for the death penalty for child molesters and others who sexually harm children.”

Under the deal, Cox must serve the full sentence with no early release. If he is released, he must register as a sex offender and will be on probation for life.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 23.

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