LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A man who wasn't authorized to coach at a Louisville school is being accused of sexting a 16-year-old girl he coached.
According to court documents, 22-year-old Austin Williams sent multiple text messages to the victim on Oct. 1 through TextNow, a free app that offers its users an "alternative" phone number.
Williams allegedly sent a photo of his genitals to the victim and asked if she would "want him to perform oral sex on her." Louisville Metro Police say he then asked the young girl to send nude images of herself to him.
At his preliminary hearing on Thursday, Oct. 27, officials said he was charged with distribution of obscene material to minors and procurement or promoting use of minor by electronics.
A spokesperson with JCPS told WHAS11 that Williams has never been employed by JCPS. They said he "expressed interest in becoming an assistant coach at a JCPS school, but never submitted the required paperwork."
"Though Mr. Williams was never hired as an assistant coach, he did have some interactions with a team. That violated JCPS policy which requires a background check for any adult having school-sanctioned interactions with student-athletes," a district spokesperson said in an email statement.
JCPS would not say which school was involved.
The documents say the victim confronted Williams, stating she knew it was him who had texted her. Police say she asked him to text her phone and she received a message from Williams' known phone number that said: "YO."
The victim didn't respond and police say she later received a message from the TextNow number stating: "HOW U TELL ME TEXT U BU T NOT TB."
Williams' arrest citation said the victim reported the incident to her head coach and when the head coach attempted to contact Williams, he didn't respond to any calls or text messages.
Williams was in court the morning of Wednesday, Oct 19 where he plead not guilty to distributing obscene material to minors and procuring or promoting use of a minor by electronic means.
The case was waived to be presented to a grand jury the week of Nov. 21.
Officials said the judge granted Williams' bond be reduced from $50,000 to $7,500.
If the bond should be posted, the judge ordered Williams to not have any contact with the school where he was assisting, no contact with any minors, no use of electronics or internet and no contact with the witness/victim.
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