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Ex-Istrouma teacher barred from any K-12 campus as judge sets bond on rape accusation
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BATON ROUGE - An East Baton Rouge Parish district judge Friday ordered a former Istrouma High School teacher and track coach to stay away from all K-12 schools — if he is able to post a bond and get out of jail.
District Judge Gail Ray set Johnnie Butler's bond at $32,500 after he was accused of raping an 18-year-old student. Butler was arrested Thursday and had his first court appearance Friday.
Butler, 41, is accused of third-degree rape and of having sexual contact with a student. Ray set Butler's bond at $30,000 on the rape accusation and $2,500 for the prohibited sexual contact.
Ray also told Butler he had to sign an agreement stating he would not go near the victim, carry a firearm or travel out of state. If he is released, he would be subject to homebound monitoring via his cell phone.
The father of an Istrouma student had told WBRZ on Tuesday that Butler had raped his daughter in a closet near a school gymnasium last week. Butler had been a reserve deputy and the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office pulled his commission last week, but the parish school system let him remain on paid leave until he was formally accused Wednesday.
Under the law, educators cannot have sexual intercourse with students between the ages of 17 and 21 if there's a greater-than-four-year age difference between the two. Butler is 23 years older than the student.
The woman's father said in his WBRZ interview that Butler asked his daughter to meet him at school, then attacked her. A hospital administered a rape kit as investigators were summoned.
Butler said he didn't have sexual contact with the woman; in an interview with a detective acknowledged deleting graphic text messages he had sent her, according to an affidavit.
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