A former Panhandle teacher and boys basketball coach has been bound over for trial on charges of having sex with a student.
37-year old Joel Foster of Big Springs will be arraigned Nov 9 in Deuel County District Court on 2 counts each of 1st-degree sexual assault of a child and child abuse and one count of 1st-degree sexual assault by a school employee.
Foster was arrested in September after the Nebraska State Patrol received information that an employee of the South Platte Public Schools in Big Springs had inappropriate contact with a student.
A complaint outlining the charges says the alleged incident occurred between January 1st and September 14th of this year and involved one 16-year-old student.
The arrest warrant says Foster “did intentionally and knowingly encourage or force a minor child to engage in debauchery, public indecency, or obscene or pornographic photography, films or depictions.”
South Platte School Superintendent David Spencer said in a district-wide email that Foster’s employment ended as soon as the district learned of the allegations and that the district cooperated fully with the investigation.