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NEW MARTINSVILLE -- The former Magnolia baseball coach was recently charged with a felony county of sexual abuse.
John Wesley Smith, 38, of New Martinsville, was charged in a complaint filed by the West Virginia State Police in Wetzel County Magistrate Court with a felony count of sexual abuse by parent, guardian, custodian to a child. He had a preliminary hearing waived on Aug, 17 and was released on a $10,000 cash bond, with $9,000 of that transferred to a personal recognizance bond.
Smith -- a former head baseball coach and vocational agriculture teacher at Magnolia High School -- resigned from his job with Wetzel County Schools in June of this year following allegations of inappropriate conduct. Following a closed-door meeting of the Wetzel County Board of Education on June 13, he was suspended by the board and the matter was turned over to the West Virginia State Police for investigation.
According to the complaint filed Aug. 16, a statement from the victim, who was 17 years old at the time of the alleged incidents, claims Smith sexually abused her while she was a student in his class at Magnolia high school. The statement alleges the victim and accused flirted during free class periods and after school. which led to various sexual acts on the school property.
According to the report filed with the magistrate's office, Smith confessed to the aforementioned accusations against him to the WVSP.