A Little Rock high school football coach charged with first-degree sexual assault pleaded innocent in the case at a court hearing Friday.
Parkview High School football coach William Hardiman, 45, is accused of having sex with a teenage student during the 2014-15 school year. The student has since graduated. Police arrested Hardiman Sept. 2 in the case. He posted bond later that day and was released from the Pulaski County jail.
Attorney Rickey Hicks entered a plea of innocent on Hardiman’s behalf Friday in Little Rock District Court. Judge Alice Lightle ordered Hardiman to have to no contact with his former student.
Hardiman’s next court date was set for Nov. 15.
According to a court affidavit, the student was 17 years old when she and Hardiman began their relationship. She reportedly told investigators that Hardiman was her history teacher, and they’d had sex several times during school hours at an indoor sports facility on campus.
Hardiman continued to have sex with his former student at hotels in central Arkansas after she went to college, but the relationship ended when she learned police were investigating, according to the court filing.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.