TROY, Ohio -- Lawyers for former Troy Christian schools coach James Clay want his felony sexual battery indictment and conviction thrown out.

Clay, 41, will be sentenced Tuesday, Oct. 14, in Miami County Common Pleas Court, where a jury found him guilty Aug. 28.

Clay was accused of a sexual relationship with a then-15-year-old Troy Christian School student between fall 2006 and early 2007 while he was employed as a freshman boys' basketball coach and junior high boys football coach.

He faces up to five years in prison.

Defense lawyers Thomas Intili and Steven K. Dankof Sr. filed the motion Thursday, Oct. 9, asking Judge Jeffrey Welbaum to set aside the verdict and dismiss the indictment. They claim the indictment is defective because it does not include a statement regarding Clay's alleged state of mind at the time of the offense.

"This structural defect permeated the entire trial because the court did not instruct the jury that to find the defendant guilty of sexual battery it had to find beyond a reasonable doubt that he acted with the culpable mental state of 'recklessness,' " Intili and Dankof argued.

Prosecutors filed a reply later Thursday, claiming the motion is without merit.

Prosecutors argued sections of the sexual battery law do not require any determination of mental state because they were written "to protect those individuals most vulnerable in our society."

Just days after Clay pleaded not guilty to the indictment in December, his house located between Piqua and Troy was set on fire and racial slurs were painted on his vehicle. No one has been charged in the fire, which was ruled arson.

(Article courtesy of www.daytondailynews.com)