Bond denied for deputy accused of inappropriate relationship with minor

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Bond was denied Friday for a Richmond County deputy accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a minor.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Internal Affairs Division received information that Deputy Christopher Masters was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a juvenile, according to deputies.

The Criminal Investigation Division began a separate investigation into the allegations.

During the bond hearing, the defense says he’s a good cop, well respected and many love him.

His entire family was in court. His 16-year-old son, his daughter, who is married with two kids, his wife, his brother, and his mother were there to support him.

Court announced that the victim’s father was in the room, but they didn’t identify him.

News 12 received his disciplinary reports.

On June 27, internal affairs received a complaint about possible inappropriate text messages between Masters and a 17-year-old.

The state said he was caught sending messages to the then 16-year-old while working in juvenile court. He allegedly asked for videos of the girl performing sexual pleasures, which he would respond he wanted more of.

They reviewed the text messages and found them to be inappropriate. Those messages began in May 2022 and continued through June 2023.

Masters acknowledged he did wrong, and the messages were bad. He resigned in lieu of termination, deputies said.

On March 29, 2021, internal affairs were called by a former female applicant. She said Masters comments to her made her withdraw from the hiring pool.

They reviewed the messages and found them to be inappropriate. Masters says that was not the intention, and the messages were misinterpreted.

In a separate complaint and during a formal interview on March 30, 2021, a female deputy jailer with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office came forward saying Masters engaged in a series of messages that were sexual in nature.

They reviewed the messages and found them to be inappropriate. The proposed action was termination, but instead, he was demoted to deputy, transferred to court service, and put on 12 months probation.

In February 2020, Masters was alleged to have engaged in a series of text messages with a deputy’s wife.

Those were also deemed to be inappropriate. The proposed action was two days without pay and completing a paper on supervisor responsibility. He received the proposed action and six months of supervisor rank.

Masters began his employment with the agency on July 14, 2007, and was assigned to the courthouse at the Augusta Judicial Center.

As a result of the investigation, it was determined that probable cause existed to charge Masters with sexual exploitation of children and violation of oath by a public officer, deputies said.

Copyright 2023 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.