Man given 40 years for child porn possession

MADISON — A former Chicken Salad Chick employee has been sentenced to 40 years in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography.

Chad Harpole Dodds, 54, of Canton, was convicted as a habitual offender in Madison County Circuit Court, District Attorney Bubba Bramlett said last week.

The investigation began on Oct. 24, 2024, when Madison Police responded to a call from Chicken Salad Chick. A female customer reported that a male employee had followed her into the restroom and attempted to record her using a phone under the stall.

“She immediately alerted other employees, and they confronted Dodds,” Bramlett said. “He ran out of the establishment and did not return.”

Dodds was located later that evening. Investigators obtained a search warrant for his phone to determine whether he had captured any video in the restroom.

A forensic examination revealed multiple images of child pornography, as well as online conversations with underage girls, Bramlett said. Dodds was charged with both attempted voyeurism and possession of child pornography.

Dodds was already a registered sex offender at the time of the offense and was considered a habitual offender due to prior convictions for robbery and voyeurism.

“Chad Dodds is clearly a sexual predator,” Bramlett said. “My office prosecuted him in 2017, when he was sentenced to 10 years for a voyeurism charge after trying to film a young woman in a dressing room. He was granted parole, and just over a year after his release, he was again attempting to film someone without their consent. Not only that, he was found in possession of numerous images of child pornography.”