Former college coach sentenced

HUNTINGTON, Ind. (WPTA) - A former college cross country coach has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and 150 days to be served under electronic monitoring after pleading guilty to identity deception.

Nicholas Johnson had previously faced two counts of child seduction and one count of kidnapping and identity deception. His arrest followed accusations that Johnson used a phony email account to communicate with a child and took the victim out of state without her parents’ knowledge.

Court documents also alleged inappropriate contact on two occasions. The incidents date to 2020, when Johnson was coaching at Huntington University. He was fired from that position when the school learned of the charges.

Johnson, 34, reached a plea deal with prosecutors in December.