Principal arrested during cheerleading coach

Jane Blackwell tried to hinder the investigation of cheerleading coach Jill Moore, who was arrested last week for providing beer to students and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Chief Deputy Mike Frederick said.

Blackwell wasn?t directly involved in those incidents but when investigators began asking questions, she told the cheerleading squad to keep quiet, Frederick said.

Blackwell, 59, was arrested about 2 p.m. after Greenwood County officers searched her office, taking two computers, calendars, notebooks and other items.

Blackwell was released from jail Monday evening on her own recognizance, Frederick said. She asked for an attorney, but it wasn?t immediately clear if she had hired one.

Frederick said immediately after Blackwell and others were told by investigators they planned to talk to each cheerleader, the principal called a squad meeting and told them not to discuss the case with anyone.

?It became quite clear to investigators who was attempting to keep this thing quiet,? Frederick said.

Blackwell asked investigators if they knew whether any calls were made from the school to the media and disciplined at least one student who mentioned the Moore case at school, according to a sworn statement filed with an arrest warrant.

Deputies also think Blackwell knew the coach was giving alcohol to students and having a sexual relationship with someone involved with the school, but did not report the information to authorities, Frederick said.

?To have a school official facilitating that is bad, but for a school to cover it up versus doing whatever is necessary to protect those kids, that’s appalling,? Sheriff Dan Wideman said in a statement.

Moore resigned shortly after her arrest.

The sheriff praised students and teachers for coming forward instead of being intimidated by an administrator.

?It would have been much easier for all of the staff at that school to stay quiet and let us toil for months on this case. But they told the truth,? Wideman said. ?I am proud of them, and I hope the parents are too.?

Ware Shoals is about 80 miles northwest of Columbia.