A former wrestling coach and substitute teacher at West Johnston High School was arrested Thursday and charged with sex offenses involving a girl under age 16.

Michael Alan Conklin, 27, was charged with taking indecent liberties with a child following a State Bureau of Investigation probe. The incident occurred in December 2009. It was unclear whether the girl was a West Johnston student at the time.

Conklin was taken to the Johnston County jail and released on a $24,900 bond. He’s due in court Tuesday.

Johnston schools spokeswoman Terri Sessoms said Conklin was a non-faculty assistant coach who worked with the wrestling team in December 2009 and January 2010. Also, he was a substitute teacher during the spring semester of 2010, Sessoms said.

“Like all substitute teachers, volunteers who work alone with students, and other non-faculty coaches, he went through an extensive screening involving a criminal background check before being approved as a non-faculty coach and substitute teacher,” she said.

Conklin’s arrest comes one month after another former West Johnston staffer, school resource officer and sheriff’s deputy Todd Fair, was arrested on the same charge. Court records show SBI agent M.B. East filed the charges against both Fair and Conklin. The agency was called in because Fair had worked for the Johnston County Sheriff’s Department — the law-enforcement agency that covers West Johnston High.

“I understand that parents might be concerned, but our priority is to protect our students, and we make sure they have good role models,” West Johnston Principal Brookie Honeycutt said.

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