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A Hickory High School basketball coach faces additional child sex charges after being accused of inappropriate conduct with two more students.
Shawnacie Antoine Johnson, 38, has been in jail since late July on charges of statutory rape and sex offense with a student. He was arrested after police say a Hickory High student made an “allegation of a sexual nature” to school employees. The school system reported the allegation to police the same day.
Police and prosecutors said at the time that Johnson could face more charges.
On Monday, he was indicted with five counts of taking indecent liberties with a student. The charges stem from alleged incidents with two other students, said Capt. Thurman Whisnant of the Hickory Police department.
Whisnant declined to give more details because the case is ongoing, other than to say the victims were students and police were aware of possible misconduct involving the pair when Johnson was first charged.
Whisnant said police are not aware of other possible victims at this time.
Johnson is the head basketball coach at Hickory High, and also worked as a physical education teacher and an assistant coach on the football team.
He was placed on paid leave on June 1 as police investigated the initial allegations. He was arrested July 24.
Johnson remained on paid leave on Tuesday, which was the first day of school in Hickory.
Beverly Snowden, a spokeswoman for Hickory Public Schools, says that to her knowledge district officials were unaware of any alleged misconduct until May. “As soon as that surfaced ... action was taken,” Snowden said. “The charges were taken very seriously.”
According to court documents, Johnson had sex with a female student four times beginning in 2007 when she was 14.
On Tuesday, Johnson remained in the Catawba County jail under a $300,000 bond. Police were working to serve Johnson on the additional indictments.
Johnson is scheduled to appear in court again on Oct. 1.
