PHOENIX — William Roberts III has been found not guilty on all six counts of sexual contact with a minor, a judge ruled Thursday.
On Monday, the former sports coach testified to the court.
He told jurors he did have sex with two of the alleged victims. However, he claimed it was after they turned 18.
Roberts used to coach basketball at Peoria High School before Patrick Battillo, also known as Mr. ORNG, took over for the team.
As ABC15 previously reported, Battillo was recently arrested for asking a minor to send him sexually explicit images and videos.
ABC15 reached out to the Peoria Unified School District where Roberts worked for over a decade.
According to a spokesperson, Roberts had been a substitute teacher, instructional assistant, coach, and teacher.
"At the time he was hired, he received a background check and was issued an IVP fingerprint clearance card that was regularly renewed during his employment," said the spokesperson.
"If there had been additional flags to his fingerprint clearance, we would have received those updates from ADE or DPS," they added.
The district told ABC15 that Roberts was put on leave in December 2019 and that he resigned in 2020.
