A veteran Richmond County deputy with a history of inappropriate texts has been charged with sexual exploitation of children.
Deputy Christopher Masters, 50, was charged after allegations surfaced of an inappropriate relationship with a juvenile, according to Richmond County authorities. He was also charged with a violation of oath of office, and he was booked into the Charles B. Webster Detention Center.
A RCSO press release gave little information on the offense, which reportedly involved a teenage girl. An incident report was not immediately available.
He is the same officer who reached the rank of lieutenant before he was suspended without pay for two days in January 2021 for sending inappropriate messages to another deputy’s wife. (See memo below.) In that case, he was forced to write a paper on supervisory leadership and put on probation.
Masters was subsequently demoted down from lieutenant to deputy and allowed to stay with the agency despite making inappropriate contact with a new hire and someone he was recruiting.
The newest allegations were received Tuesday by internal affairs and the charges were a result of an “separate investigation” by the agency’s Criminal Investigation Division. The deputy resigned in lieu of termination on Wednesday.
Deputy Masters began working at the sheriff’s office on July 14, 2007. After his demotion from lieutenant for repeated problems, he was assigned to the courthouse at the Augusta Judicial Center.
Sgt. Chris Masters made headlines in 2018 when he was stabbed in the upper arm while investigating a domestic dispute on Meadowbook Drive.
He is the 25th Richmond County officer to be arrested and fired since September 2021.
Of the 24 previously-arrested deputies, eight were for charges not related to their jobs. Ten of the remaining 16 were for bringing contraband into the jail. At least eight have been arrested for excessive use of force.
A previous discipline is documented in this internal record from 2021:
