Former East Newton Girls Basketball Coach Statutory Rape Trial Ends In Mistrial For A Second Time:

A former girls basketball coach for East Newton High School will not stand trial in Jasper County for three counts of statutory rape.

For the second time in six weeks a judge has declared a mistrial in the case against 31 year-old Joshua Long.

Defense attorney Dee Wampler says, "too many jurors who were called for jury duty were familiar with the case in order for my client to get a fair trial." Apparently Jasper County Circuit Court Judge David Dally agrees. He has now ruled that the case will be heard in another county.

Prosecutors allege that Long, who was going into his first year of teaching for the district, had sex with a 16 year-old girl from Webb City twice in May and once in June of 2008 at his home in Orongo.

According to the probable cause statement, the girl told cops that she and Long had been sexting each other before she got to his house, where they had sex on an island in the mans kitchen.

The statement goes on to say that Long and the teenager sent nude pictures to each other via their cell phones.

Defense attorney Dee Wampler said today that his client, "is a professional basketball coach who traveled with the teams. It just didn't happen, he said."

Long had previously been employed as a coach for the McDonald County and Carl Junction school districts.