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BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The former Baton Rouge high school athletic coach accused of coaxing a student into a sexual relationship entered a tentative guilty plea to several charges.

The 19th Judicial District Attorney’s Office on Monday dismissed a sexual battery charge against the accused, Johnnie Butler. Prosecutors also amended a simple rape / 3rd degree rape charge to an obscenity charge which Butler pleaded guilty to.

Butler also entered guilty pleas to two counts of Sexual Conduct Between and Educator and Student. The former coach had previously entered not guilty pleas to all of the charges.

District Judge Fred Crifasi set for sentencing for August 29.

The court noted that Butler will be allowed to withdraw his plea if it is later learned that he does not qualify for probation.

Butler was working as a coach at Istrouma High School in Baton Rouge at the time of the alleged offense in May of 2023.

Baton Rouge Police arrested Butler after a student came forward with text messages and claimed that the teacher pressured her into non-consensual sex. The text messages reportedly revealed Butler saying he wanted to “lay” with the student.

After repeated messages, Butler reportedly texted the student asking her to meet him in the gym at Istrouma High School one afternoon.

The student told investigators that Butler pushed her into a closet in the gym and had sex with her without her permission, according to an arrest warrant. The student said she froze and was in a state of shock during the act, according to the warrant.

Police found a video which reportedly shows the student enter the gym around the time Butler sends the text message. Butler then appears on video leaving the gym six minutes later.

The young woman has filed a civil lawsuit in the 19th Judicial District Court. The young woman’s attorney, Dathan Hill, argues that the school system was negligent in hiring Butler and failed to properly address the incident after it happened.

While the lawsuit identifies the young woman, WAFB does not typically publish the identity of victims of alleged sexual crimes.

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