Prosecutors: Coach in rape case violated probation
STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (AP) — A volunteer football coach whose Ohio house was the scene of a party that preceded the rape of a girl by two high school football players left the state without permission and drank in an Arizona bar in violation of his probation conditions, according to state prosecutors seeking to revoke that probation.
Matt Belardine was arrested last month in Arizona at a protest over the grand jury decision in the Ferguson, Missouri, police shooting, according to media reports. Scottsdale authorities said Belardine was fighting with protesters.
Belardine “did not conduct himself as a ‘responsible law abiding citizen’ while in Scottsdale, Arizona,” contrary to conditions of his probation, according to a filing in Jefferson County court this month by the attorney general’s office.
Belardine pleaded no contest in April to one count of making a false statement and one count of enabling underage drinking. Charges of obstructing official business and contributing to the delinquency of a child were dismissed.
Special Judge Patricia Ann Cosgrove sentenced Belardine to 10 days in jail, one year of supervision and 40 hours of community service. She also fined him $1,000.
If convicted of the probation violation, Belardine faces a maximum of six months in jail, minus the 10 days he previously served, said Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the attorney general.
A hearing was scheduled today for Belardine in Steubenville. Messages were left for Belardine’s attorney seeking comment.
Belardine was one of six people charged last year by a grand jury investigating whether other laws were broken in the case of the 16-year-old West Virginia girl who was raped after an alcohol-fueled house party in August 2012.