Former Durham deputy convicted on student sex charge

A former Durham County deputy will spend at least six months in prison after being convicted Tuesday of sexual misconduct with a 15-year-old student while he served as a school resource officer.

Christopher Ladd Kelly, 41, was found guilty of indecent liberties with a child and was sentenced to 13 to 25 months in prison. He was given credit for the seven-plus months he has already been in jail.

Kelly worked as an off-duty deputy at Carrington Middle a School in the 2014-2015 school year, at which time investigators say he met the victim. When the student moved to Northern High School the following year, Kelly began working off-duty there.

He was transferred full-time in June 2016 to the School Resource Division – he had been assigned to the warrant squad previously – and was moved to Hillside High School.

Kelly was fired last April after allegations of sexual misconduct arose when deputies found a teen girl in his car during a traffic stop. According to court documents, he had tried to avoid being pulled over and later created a distraction so that the girl could run away.