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	Principal in Court on Sexual Assault Charge By Pamela Smith KATV March 24, 2010 http://www.katv.com/news/stories/0310/718681.html SHERWOOD (AR) -- The suspended principal and coach charged with first-degree sexual assault of a former student makes his first court appearance. Police paint a disturbing picture of Timothy Ballard, 39, a man charged with sexually assaulting at least one of the children he was entrusted to care for at Abundant Life School in Sherwood. The arrest affidavit read at Tuesday's hearing said the former female student told police Coach Ballard started showing her a lot of extra attention when she was in the 7th grade. She says things then progressed to kissing, groping, fondling and other inappropriate sexual contact until she graduated in 2009. (Lt. Cheryl Williams, Sherwood Police Dept) "The school had had some complaints about his behavior. As far as I know, we have no other reports filed through the past year about Coach Ballard until this latest one....If she hadn't come forward, who knows how long he could have been at the school continuing to do this." However, who knew what and when is part of an ongoing investigation. Arkansas law mandates the reporting of suspected child abuse. Failure to do so is a class C misdemeanor. An affidavit states the superintendent of Abundant Life Schools told police they received a complaint about Coach Ballard and inappropriate behavior with a female student more than a decade ago. Police say school officials have provided additional names of potential victims as a result of the current investigation. (Lt. Cheryl Williams, Sherwood Police Dept) "Throughout all their time starting at the 7th grade until they graduated, there was some type of inappropriate behavior between them and Coach Ballard." Ballard is on paid administrative leave from the school and remains out on a $50,000 bail. Meanwhile, police say 10-12 other alleged victims have come forward and officers urge anyone else with further accusations to contact them. (Lt. Cheryl Williams, Sherwood Police Dept) "It may be hard for children to talk to their parents, but we have female detectives here who are very trained in talking to children." A police report says Ballard was arrested Friday after an investigation into an anonymous caller's claim that he resigned as coach after being accused of having sexual relationships with several female students. Ballard declined to comment on the allegations. He has pleaded not guilty.
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