UPDATE: Court records show Christopher Alan Riggs has pled guilty.
Muskingum County Common Pleas Court records show that on May 14, 2026, Christopher Alan Riggs was arraigned upon a Bill of Information and pled guilty. The docket states that sentencing has been deferred pending a pre-sentence investigation and that the court ordered Riggs to have no contact with any minors.
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Christopher Alan Riggs, identified publicly with LifeWise Academy / Tri-Valley Character Academy, has been charged in Muskingum County with Gross Sexual Imposition- force and Voyeurism- to spy or eavesdrop upon another.
Riggs is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court…BUT this raises urgent questions that every parent, school board member, and public official should be asking right now:
Who was responsible for vetting him?
What background checks were completed?
What access did he have to children during the public school day?
Were public school students transported to a program where he was present?
When did LifeWise, Tri-Valley Character Academy, and the district learn about this?
Were parents notified?
This program operated under the names Tri-Valley Character Academy and LifeWise Academy. The program’s own website featured photos of Riggs participating with students. The Tri-Valley LifeWise Facebook page now appears to have been taken offline.
This is exactly why public schools cannot simply outsource student access to private religious programs and then shrug when serious questions arise.
Released time religious instruction is not just “a Bible class.” It is a system that pulls children out of public school during the school day and places them in the care of outside adults, outside the school building, under policies many communities barely understand.
Parents deserve answers.
School boards deserve answers.
The public deserves answers.
And no one should minimize this because the program is religious, private, or wrapped in language like “character.”
If you have direct information relevant to this case, please contact law enforcement. Do not speculate publicly about victims or details that have not been confirmed.
SEA will continue monitoring this situation and seeking answers about student safety, district oversight, and the systems that allowed this level of access to public school children during the school day.
Public schools belong to everyone. Student safety is not optional.
What people are saying:
- Secular Education Association: Trust your gut!
- Secular Education Association: This is not the first time serious child-safety questions have been raised around LifeWise.
In 2024, LifeWise hired Renee Beck as a director for its Firelands program. Reporting later showed she had previously been fired from a public school teaching job after allegations that she exchanged sexually explicit texts with students.
LifeWise fired her after the information surfaced publicly.
There have also been questions about LifeWise program locations and oversight. In Indiana, reporting raised concerns about a LifeWise program approved to meet at a chemical factory that employed a registered sex offender classified as a “sexually violent predator.”
This is why “background checked” is not enough.
Public school children are being pulled out during the school day and placed into the custody of outside adults, in outside locations, under a program many school boards barely scrutinize.
Parents and communities deserve real answers:
Who vets these adults?
Who verifies their work history?
Who approves the locations?
Who monitors the program after approval?
Who notifies parents when something goes wrong?Student safety cannot be outsourced.
Religious branding does not erase public accountability.
- Facebook User: Secular Education Association copied to add to the share of this post. Thank you!!!
- Secular Education Association: Facebook User you’re so welcome! It was thanks to our team here at SEA and fantastic community contacts – both Renee Beck and the Colormax situations were uncovered!
- Facebook User: Yep. There they go again.
- Facebook User: Does anyone know which tri valley school? Nashport? Dresden? Frazysburg? I had no idea of this and my child attended lifewise through tri valley
- Secular Education Association: Facebook User we believe it was Adamsville… https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1L4TmtT7W4/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Facebook User: This is why non-affiliated programs taking children off school property SHOULD NOT EVEN BE AN OPTION. EVER.
- Facebook User: That video is disturbing
- Secular Education Association: Facebook User We could not agree more! That’s why we made sure to include it and its transcript for accessibility.
- Facebook User: yes, that’s always a good idea. Thanks!
- Facebook User: Religious people sending their kids into the care of pedophiles because they’re worried they might be exposed to seeing a couple gay kids. The irony.
- Facebook User: Life Wise is nothing but white Christian nationalism injected into our school system. Its goal is recruitment.
- Facebook User: All in the name of Christianity.🤬
- Facebook User: Facebook User Just what we were talking about yesterday! These people are NOT vetted!
- Facebook User: Facebook User that was my entire point! Insane
- Facebook User: This is another reason I do not like school systems forcing parents to sign a blanket field trip approval form at the beginning of the year to cover the entire year.
To me there is no excuse for school systems to be doing this. It is an obvious liability they should be more than competant to foresee and it should stop being put on the parents to, “just trust us” when these things happen so frequently anymore. Adults who are mandated reporters are proving more often than not to sweep it under the rug.
- Facebook User: He spent 19 MINUTES in jail before being released on a personal recognizance….🤦♀️
- Zachary Parrish: Facebook User these predators ALWAYS get away with a slap on the wrist. I’ve done more time than that for driving with a suspended license.
- Facebook User: Facebook User Muskingum County seems to love their PDFiles!
- Facebook User: Separation of church and state.
- Facebook User: SO many evil people hiding behind religion… Truly sickening. Keep this program out of public schools!!
- Facebook User: Figures
- Facebook User: Do you also post secular teachers who abuse students or do you only discriminate against Christianity
- Facebook User: Facebook User what the hell is Christian about sexual abuse of children? All abusers should be charged, especially the ones in the Epstein files.
- Zachary Parrish: Facebook User there’s that persecution complex, even to the point of supporting pedophiles
- Facebook User: Facebook User no complex here. Im definitely not supporting them. Im just asking if everyone is treated equally
- Facebook User: Facebook User definitely not Christian and I support prosecution of all offenders.
- Secular Education Association: Facebook User We absolutely support prosecution and accountability for any adult who abuses children- regardless of religion, politics, profession, or ideology.
But this page focuses specifically on church-state issues and programs operating in connection with public schools during the school day. That includes asking hard questions about oversight, access to children, transparency, and accountability when religious organizations are given special access through public schools.
Pointing that out is not discrimination against Christianity. It is public accountability.
And to be very clear: protecting children should never become a partisan or religious loyalty test.
- Facebook User: Facebook User no, they aren’t treated equally. if it was a non Christian no one would be making sure he was being treated fairly. Everyone would simply be disgusted.
- Facebook User: Facebook User the fact that this is your take away is disturbing 😒
- Facebook User: Facebook User Do you always deflect from abuse?
- Facebook User: Facebook User Nah. Looks like you feel guilty.
- Facebook User: Facebook User Looks like you work with kids, too. Hmmm.
- Facebook User: Facebook User Exactly, sexual abuse of children is a Muslim thing, along with genital mutilation and child marriage.
- Facebook User: the infamous Lifewise’s character development
- Facebook User: I keep saying, bad things are going to happen with this Lifewise and here we are. People! Stop blindly allowing people to have access to your children!!! Trust no one!
- Facebook User: Facebook User your right Don’t Trust anyone with your children
- Facebook User: “No one could have foreseen this” they’ll say as we continue to sound the alarm to this exact possibility
- Facebook User: Religious education does not belong in the public school day, period! Let alone off campus.
- Facebook User: Facebook User Exactly
- Facebook User: Facebook User agree
- Facebook User: Facebook User but liberal protests are fine?
- Facebook User: Facebook User 100% agree! Keep religion in your temples, churches, synagogues. Not in schools!
- Secular Education Association: Barb Stryker well. One is a constitutional right. The other is preying on children and using public education as a mission field. So. Yes?
- Facebook User: Sick
- Facebook User: I just can’t with these people.
- Facebook User: Why am I not surprised? 🤬
- Facebook User: He pled guilty, post: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18SJ5YwpcA/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Secular Education Association: Facebook User yes he did! Thank you.
- Facebook User: This isn’t surprising. We’re giving random people unsupervised access to school children off campus with no oversight.
- Facebook User: Schools are forced to allow the program according to our dear Facebook User. 😡😡😡😡 I’ve seen it take time away from critical staff dealing with it and students. Public Educators are frustrated and tired of the GOP bull.
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