A former Franklin schools employee was arrested, charged with sex crimes and fired from his post as a track coach after a former student reported he fondled her and forced her to have sex with him nearly seven years ago.
James Eli Betts, 42, of Franklin, is charged with four counts of child seduction by a child care worker, all felonies.
A former Franklin Community High School student and track team member told school officials in March that Betts had seduced, fondled and forced her to have sex with him twice in 2014, when she was still a minor, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Thursday in Johnson County Superior Court 2.
The school fired Betts on April 5, according to a news release.
Betts was an assistant coach for the Franklin Community High School girls and boys track teams from 2013-15. The alleged misconduct happened during that time. Betts resigned in January of 2015, but had returned to the track coaching staff this February, according to the news release.
Franklin Community Schools followed the normal hiring process and protocols, including an expanded criminal history background check and child protection index search, as required by state law. The search did not turn up any conduct that would disqualify him from being a coach, the news release said.
The incidents reportedly occurred in May and July of 2014, when the victim was 16. The first incident occurred in May of 2014 in Betts’s car, and the second occurred in July of 2014 at his house, according to court documents.
Betts initially denied the allegations to police, but eventually told them he knew he had crossed the line and detailed ways he had done so. The victim said he forced her to have intercourse. Betts denies that, court documents show.
"I probably let things go further than I should, but we didn’t have sex," he told police. "I know I’m a bad person. I’ve had affairs. I’m not proud of the things I do … It’s the end of my coaching career. It’s the end of my marriage," court documents said.
Betts said he and the victim planned on getting together after she graduated from high school. The victim said Betts had started a "countdown" to 18.
Betts continued to communicate with the victim after he resigned his track position and after she graduated. The communication included inappropriate messages and nude photos via Snapchat, the victim told police.
The victim reported the abuse to Franklin Community Schools on March 25, and school officials say they immediately reported it to the Department of Child Services as required by state law.
She said she came forward now because Betts had started coaching at the school again, and she didn’t want what happened to her to happen to anyone else, according to court documents.
Police arrested Betts on a warrant Thursday. He was taken to the Johnson County jail and released on $1,500 cash bond. The case will be handled by a Morgan County prosecutor due to a conflict of interest in the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office, Prosecutor Joe Villanueva said.
