MN Principal Sentenced In Child Pornography Case

Will serve 5 years in prison and register as predatory offender

CHANHASSEN, Minn. – Timothy Dorway, the former principal of Chanhassen High School who pled guilty to possession of child pornography earlier this year, was sentenced to five years in prison.

Judge Janet L. Barke Cain sentenced the 45-year-old Dorway of Victoria in Carver County Court on Wednesday.

Alpha News reported Dorway was originally charged with seven felony counts relating to child pornography in December.  In June, he was charged with 10 additional counts of felony possession of child pornography. According to the Star Tribune, Dorway possessed pornography involving 11-to-13-year-old girls, but investigators found 127 videos and images of boys and girls believed to be younger than 11 years old on his work computer.  Dorway told authorities he would access the videos from Dropbox links. The Eastern Carver County School District eventually fired him after initially placing him on paid administrative leave.

As part of an agreement, Dorway pled guilty where he would be sentenced to 40 months in prison, with another 20 months of supervised release and a fine of $500.  If he should violate the terms of the agreement, Dorway would face an additional five years in prison, according to KSTP. Dorway faced a maximum of 95 years in prison and/or $95,000 in fines prior to the plea deal.

In addition to the agreement, Dorway is required to register as a predatory offender. Information registered by predatory offenders include disclosure of: primary and/or secondary residence addresses; addresses of any property which is rented, owned or leased in Minnesota; address of place of employment; and make, model, license plates and color of all motor vehicles owned or regularly driven by the offender.  In addition, the judge ordered Dorway to seek treatment while at the prison in St. Cloud, where he will serve his sentence.

Court records show Dorway having a clean criminal record except for a few minor speeding tickets prior to this case. Records also show Dorway’s wife filing for divorce in October 2014. The couple has one child. The divorce was granted in April 2015.

Prior to his work at Chanhassen High School, Dorway started his work as a teacher in the mid-1990’s, before becoming the principal at Rochester Mayo high school in 2007.

 

 

 

Donna Azarian