James H. Clay
Posted by Webmaster in Church Schools, Coaches, Hall of Shame, ME-FV, Ohio
(12/17/07 – Initial BBT Report)
James H. Clay, 41, of Piqua, Ohio a former freshman boys’ basketball coach at Troy Christian School has been indicted on one felony count of sexual battery for alleged sexual conduct with a 15-year-old girl.
Clay was a coach at Troy Christian School for about two years before he was fired in February of this year. Reportedly his firing was unrelated to the current criminal charges.
Clay appeared in court in Miami County and entered a not guilty plea to the charge.
He was released on his own recognizance and although prosecutors did not oppose his release they sought and obtained an order prohibiting contact by Clay with the alleged victim and her family.
1/18/08 – Prosecutors Seek Bond Change
Prosecutors contending that James Clay is contacting underage females on the Internet have asked a judge to modify the conditions of Clay’s own recognizance bond. They are asking the court to prohibit the alleged communications.
08/29/08 – Guilty Verdict
After less than 90 minutes of deliberation, a Miami County jury found James H. Clay guilty of the felony sexual battery of a then 15-year-old girl.
The jury foreman indicated that a tape made by sheriff’s deputies of the victim speaking to Clay in 2007 regarding videotapes she said he made of two sexual encounters between her and Clay weighed heavily in the jury’s decision.
Clay faces up to five years in prison at sentencing on October 14th.
Pending sentencing, Clay remains free on a recognizance bond with the condition he has no contact with the girl.
10/15/08 – Sentencing
James H. Clay has been sentenced to five years in prison, the maximum possible.
Clay’s attorney indicated that Clay maintains his innocence and will appeal his conviction and sentence.
Clay cried as he asked the judge for mercy for him and his family.
The prosecution called Clay a “master manipulator” and asked for the maximum sentence.
Clay was classified a Tier III sex offender, meaning he will be required to maintain his sex offender registration for life.
09/21/09 – James Clay Convicted of Arson
On September 3rd, a jury found James H. Clay guilty of aggravated arson for setting his home on fire in December 2007 and claiming it was a hate crime.
Today, Judge Robert Lindeman sentenced Clay to four years in prison for the aggravated arson.
The judge ordered Clay’s latest sentenced to run consecutive to a five-year term ordered in October 2008 on Clay’s conviction by a jury for sexual battery for a relationship with a 15-year-old girl.
References:
Former coach convicted of arson victimized community, judge says (09/21/09)
Ex-coach gets maximum sentence in teen sex case
(10/14/08)
Ex-coach Clay found guilty of sexual battery (08/28/08)
Girl Details Sexual Encounters With Ex-Coach (08/28/08)
Girl testifies she did not want Clay’s children hurt (08/27/08)
Prosecutors: Coach charged in sex case still contacting minors (1/17/08)
Entries (RSS)
I agree with Parent of a student!!! Mr. Wilber failed big time and should be held accountable!!! How can they keep someone who clearly didn’t do his job on staff???
Mr. Wilber……shame on you!!!
TO EVERYONE………………….
I think that Mr. Wilber should be held accountable and formally apologize for him and his staff’s screwing up the procedures James Clay’s hiring!
Come on, Gary…………….step up and be a man of GOD!
???
To “his child says”………………..
Tim,
Someday you will be more mature and able to accept the truth about your father!
You will realize that he has some very serious problems and is unable to realize the truth about his actions.
I just hope that you can heal from all of this and that is does not affect you and your relationships with others!
You can break your families SIN PATTERNS!
Did you know that James set the fire to his “wife’s” house?
After he painted the racial slurs on their car!
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…………
Better look at the facts of the actions of this master manipulator!
To “A GOOD teacher”,………………Thank you for your perspective! You are definitely right! The people that are defending James Clay are in denial and doing his family great disservice!
James emotions during the trial were definitely as you describe. The fear and pain that a manipulative predator feels when their lying and deception no longer works was truly evident………….even on the local news coverage!
We need to pray that his wife and older child come to know the truth as they begin to heal!
And to “Faithful 1″,……………………….When you pray for James Clay, you are in fact praying for a coward, liar, evildoer. Judge W. did NOT struggle at all with his convictions! He knew the truth! And JUSTICE prevailed!
Again……the consequences that James and his family face are a direct result of HIS decisions and actions! ONLY! I hope you start to realize this!
It is unbelievable to me how people who claim to be Christians like faithful1 will so staunchly defend this disgusting predator and malign the victim and her family.
This guy is a master manipulator and he was willing to use any tool he could towards this purpose – including, your sacred religion. The defense wanted us to believe that she made up this entire ordeal? That this was her being vengeful after discovering he was sleeping with the girl’s mother? You do understand that the defense is acknowledging that John Clay was sleeping with this girl’s mother, don’t you? How then can you believe ANYTHING he says? How can you believe that a man who would so grossly disrespect his own wife and children by committing adultery is a good and decent CHRISTIAN? How can you believe that someone who would take advantage of a vulnerable woman who was desperate for his counseling? How can you support someone who would so clearly violate boundaries of decorum and decency? And how can you believe that this same guy wouldn’t in fact do the same thing to the poor woman’s daughter?
He cried like a baby at that sentencing. He cried like a frightened coward who was finally being held accountable for his crimes. That wasn’t remorse. He wasn’t sorry until he realized that he wasn’t going to get away with it this time. That wasn’t concern for his family. That was the fear and pain a manipulative predator feels when lying and deception no longer work.
You are doing his family disservice by defending this animal. His family are also victims of this criminal. In order for them to move on with their lives they need to understand that the man they loved and looked up to was a fraud. It is not healthy for them to continue to believe that John Clay is a victim of some conspiracy. They need to accept who he was and what he did and then move on.
To “Woman of God”,……………….You are a very blessed female due to the fact that you allude in your comments that you were not emotionally, spiritually and sexually abused by James Clay. There are however, other teenage and older female victims of James Clay. This is a known and proven FACT! What James has specifically done is surrounded himself with many different female associates and he abused a number of them over the years. Others (who knew nothing of his “secret” life) would become his strongest supporters and biggest fans. Apparently, he picked his victims well. His actions definitely took some time to come to light. What a thought out scheme, or so he thought! He targeted females that were from separated/divorced homes and their lonely mothers. These lonely mothers lack the ability to make good decisions for their daughters and themselves! These are more known and proven facts! I hope in time you will come to accept the truth!
To “Faithful 1″,………….This is all very real and is definitely not a TV show. Your comments show your state of mind, lack of maturity and alot of the words and reasoning you use is what would typically be seen on reality TV.
James Clay chose to conduct himself the way that he did! And he continues to do so!
It is definitely not his wife and children’s fault! This is definitely NOT ABOUT RACE!
What he needs to do is admit his wrongs, ask for forgiveness from his victims and family and show a true willingness to make the necessary changes in his mind, thought processes and beliefs that allowed him to decide to act out his “demons”!
Remember, the judge and jury review the evidence and the evidence speaks loudly!
Sex offender? JAMES MADE THAT DECISION!
Tell us all………what would the accuser and her mother stand to gain from false accusations? Tell us all right now…..for all to read!
As far as the arson of his wife’s house and and the vehicle vandalism it may be very interesting what the final investigation report of the authorities show us.
I think you may be one of the lonely mothers yourself. You are apparently very close to James and his family and appear to have had conversation with them on an ongoing basis. You have been manipulated! I hope in time you will come to accept the truth! It will certainly set you free!
Also, what is so important about James Clay that demands this so called conspiracy agenda?
Tell us all…………..for all to read!
To “his child”,………………….I imagine you are quite heartbroken and confused at times that all of this could and has happened. I don’t agree with you though. This girl may have had issues, however that is absolutely no excuse for him to take advantage of her emotionally, spiritually and sexually. The news and media only reported the facts of his case. I never saw anything racially motivated by the news and media. I don’t believe that your father has any integrity until he confesses his wrongs, asks for forgiveness and makes an effort for true change in his life! I am sure your dad did many good things. But, that does not excuse his wrongs. I know he is your HERO and you love him! You should! Keep your head up! Time will heal you and your family! IF YOU LET IT!
To “Sister”,…………………….Matthew 18 was used with James, however he denied any wrongdoing. Fortunately, when a person chooses to abuse people in the manner that he did, the law of the land gets involved. If James wanted to stand tall with integrity, he could have made the choice to confess the truth of his actions and submit himself to the law instead of denying that he had and has done wrong!
I pray for the Clay family…..that they accept every opportunity for healing from this mess, I pray that ALL of the victims over the years forgive and are healed and I also pray that James will confess his wrongs, ask for forgiveness and receive the healing that he so needs and I hope deep down desires!
What are they teaching you at TROY CHRISTIAN tckid, maybe you need time to grow up and start reading the bible for yourself. However you judge a person that’s how you will in return be judged and you just said you hope James burns in hell. You are very uneducated young man, life will teach you, you will shortly learn that YOUR not GOD so GOD is the only judge there is. Did you tell James that to his face? No you didn’t, if you have a problem with another person you are suppose to go to that person and tell them, then if they don’t hear you , you go to them with 2 or 3 others that’s in the bible too if you didn’t know. I have a problem with what you said so I’m telling you now mind your own business and spend your energy in a positive way. Coach Clay and what He taught you was all TRUTH, the word can be given through anyone at anytime. God or the Spirit is much greater than any of us, we are just tools in the tool box. None greater than the next just depends on the job that needs to be done which tool will be used. I pray God will heal your bitterness and you will grow up to be a GREAT man of God.
i go to troy christian. he was my 7th grade football coach. he was a great coach. always had devotion at beginning of practice. plays were from madden though. i respected him sooo much. i have no respect for him now. he yelled at kids on our team for having no respect to girls at school then he does this. he was one of my hero’s. now he’s jst a joke at troy christian. he’s a joke. i have no sympathy for him. he burnt his own house down. he can rot in hell for all i care
wow, this is my dad, my father and best friend. he is innocent but i guess that doesn’t matter when he is a scapegoat. when the accussations went out back in July of 07, my dad still continued to keep his integrity. i know this girl and she has some issues that he was dealing with. he covered her and her mother’s shame and took it upon himself. no matter what the news and the media says HE IS MY HERO!
I am familiar with this James Clay story, with James Clay and his family, with Miami County, Ohio and with “politics” and the media’s general misguided duty of “providing a head on a platter”.
I have learned to distinguish right from wrong, and good from evil.
The unfair treatment that has been received by James Clay reeks of evil.
I ask, no I plea, with the public to not believe what has been fabricated against this man, James Clay, from specific citizens of Miami County, the media and his accuser. The poor Judge is under extreme public pressure to go against his sworn duty of letting justice prevail, and to BBQ this innocent ‘man of integrity’. Speaking of BBQ, did you know that this man’s house was set on fire while he & his family were in it. James had to save his family, just like on a TV show. And when he got them safely outside he found that threatening messages were also spray-painted on the family’s car – just like on a TV show. How would you like your children to experience that? And any psychologist can tell that the accuser & her mother’s story are fabricated and acts have been premeditated and taken out of context to try to slander and physically hurt this man and his family – just like a TV show.
The reason it is all like a TV show – is because IT ISN”T REAL. It’s all made up and the drama has been brought to a frenzy. But, unfortunately & unjustly it is all too real for the family of James Clay. You see, when a man is branded with the title, “Sex Offender” no one will employ him. When someone illegally burns your house down the EPA sends you a bill to clean it up. The insurance company doesn’t pay because there is no proof of who started the fire. The hurt & mis-guided hate goes on, and on for this family. The accuser & her mother have a sad desire to seek attention at any cost to others. Their agenda was to hurt this man, and Oh, Yes they have succeeded & beyond! This has gone way too far, hasn’t it?
In your heart of hearts you know that we will all be judged in accordance to God’s definition of justice. So, I pray for James Clay & his family. I pray for those who have been cowards, or liars, or evil-doers, as well. I pray for Judge W as he struggles with his convictions. I pray for justice. But, mostly I pray for ‘peace’ for this family.
there are alot of ppl on this web site and i know for a fact Coach Clay is not one of them. i am a female athlete and he has mentored trained me and he is a great man. she is full of it
I was taught not to judge someone by what others claim. But to judge a man by his character. Unless you know this man and his family, maybe it be best if you keep you r opinion s to yourself.