Former West Johnston High coach faces indecent liberties charge

A grand jury indicted Michael Alan Conklin, 27, on Thursday.

The incident, which involved a girl under the age of 16, allegedly occurred in December 2009, according to court documents.

Conklin wasn’t a member of the West Johnston High faculty and coached wrestling there on a contract with the school district, a Johnston County schools spokeswoman said Thursday. He was also a substitute teacher until last spring.

Conklin has since moved out of state, but returned Thursday to face the charge.

Conklin's attorney Mike Reese said his client has been cooperative with investigators and they look forward to resolving this case in court early next month.

Conklin is the second person associated with West Johnston High to be indicted on a similar charge.

Former school resource officer Michael Todd Fair, 40, is accused of sending inappropriate pictures of himself to the same student involved in Conklin's case. He was charged in December with two counts of disseminating obscenity to a minor under age 16 and one count of indecent liberties with a child.

"I understand that parents might be concerned, but our priority is to protect our students, and we make sure they have good role models," West Johnston High Principal Brookie Honeycutt said Thursday.

WRAL has learned the student is no longer enrolled at West Johnston High.