Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Ryan Michael Clemens, 41, was arrested today and charged with child neglect and tampering with evidence; he was the Assistant Principal at St. Patrick Interparish School, where the Athletic Director, Christopher Chell, was recently arrested on 10 counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child between 12 and 16 years of age.

On February 20, a female seventh-grader told Clemens that Chell had made inappropriate comments that made her uncomfortable; she reportedly said that Chell said he could be her “secret boyfriend” but that they would need to keep it a secret and could not be “open” about the “relationship.”

Chell’s arrest report states that Clemens told a Gainesville Police Department Detective that Chell had a reputation at the school for favoring middle school girls: “Looking back he did have a lot of favorites that were girls – always sixth, seventh, eighth-grade girls would visit him. During class, between classes.” Clemens reportedly told the detective that he was aware that Chell hugged female students, the ones he considered his “favorites.”

A 12-year-old victim reportedly told the detective that Chell would say “I love you” to her and would expect her to say it back to him. Chell’s arrest reports notes, “[The victim] also said that if she didn’t say ‘I love you’ back to [Chell] he would get ‘upset’ or even ‘mad’ until she did say it. [Chell] exhibited the same type of ‘upset’ response when [the victim] would not visit him in between classes or after class.”

Chell’s arrest report notes that the 12-year-old said Chell expected to hug her every day, starting around September 2023; she reportedly said that over time, Chell began touching her inappropriately during these “side hugs” and that the incidents at first could have been accidental, but, the arrest report notes, “it became evident that it was intentional over time.”

GPD’s investigation found that Clemens learned about the inappropriate comments within an hour of when the comments were made, and he allegedly decided to investigate the incident himself instead of reporting it to the Department of Children and Families (DCF) or law enforcement. The investigation reportedly consisted of a closed-door meeting the same day between Clemens, Chell, and the victim; during the meeting, Chell reportedly said he did not make the alleged comments, and Clemens reportedly told the victim that he believed Chell was telling the truth, “one hundred percent.”

Clemens reportedly closed the investigation and took no further action. However, during GPD’s investigation, Clemens reportedly told a detective that the very next day, he overheard Chell telling another school employee that he did ask to be the victim’s “secret boyfriend” but was “kidding.” Clemens still allegedly took no further investigative or disciplinary action toward Chell. The victim’s family withdrew her from the school the day after the victim reportedly the incident to Clemens.

Later the same week, Clemens reportedly received a report from a school employee that Chell’s behavior toward a middle school girl had made the employee “uncomfortable.”

Clemens did not report the February 20 incident to DCF until February 23; the report he made allegedly concluded that Chell had done nothing wrong and that the victim had agreed that Chell did not ask her to be in a secret relationship, even though Clemens had reportedly overheard Chell jokingly admit this to another employee. Both Clemens and Chell have reportedly told others that DCF’s refusal to investigate the incident is an indication that nothing inappropriate had taken place.

Days later, Clemens was reportedly approached by three female sixth-graders who said Chell had made inappropriate comments to them and had touched them inappropriately while hugging them. Clemens reportedly took no further investigative or disciplinary action after speaking with the girls and made no additional reports to DCF.

The GPD Detective reported that the day after this meeting, at least one female middle school student at the school was victimized by Chell during school hours. Chell was fired on February 28.

Clemens reportedly told the detective that he had seen written communications in Chell’s office that contained evidence relating to the case, but he said he threw away this evidence after Chell was fired.

The detective noted that the charges were brought because of the incident that took place after Clemens learned about Chell’s alleged inappropriate behavior and Clemens’ admission that he had thrown away evidence.

Clemens has been employed at St. Patrick Interparish School for 4.5 years and held the position of Athletic Director before being named the Assistant Principal about 18 months ago. When Clemens took the Assistant Principal position, Chell became Athletic Director.

Clemens has no local criminal history except the successful completion of a deferred prosecution agreement for possession of an alcoholic beverage by someone under the age of 21 in 2002. His first appearance hearing will be held tomorrow, and bail will be set at that time.

Detectives believe there may be more victims. If you have any information regarding this incident or have knowledge of any victims, please contact Sgt. Pandak at (352) 393-7734.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.