A former cheerleading coach arrested last summer and charged with child seduction was in court last Friday to plead guilty and be sentenced on two misdemeanor counts. Under the terms of a negotiated plea agreement, two felony counts involving child seduction were dropped.   

Morgan Mackenzie Judy, 23, of Bloomfield, was accused of inappropriate sexual behavior with a 17-year-old male Bloomfield student on May 6. Judy had served as a cheerleading coach in one local school and she had worked full-time as a substitute teacher in another local school during the last school year.

The incident was investigated by Indiana State Police Detective Brad Stille.

Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw filed the criminal case against Judy on June 15 in Greene Circuit Court and a warrant was issued for her arrest.

Judy was taken into custody and booked in to the Greene County Jail around 5 p.m. the same day.

Her bond was set at $14,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. She posted $1,400 cash and was released.

She was then scheduled to appear in court for her initial hearing on Thursday, June 28. But Greene Circuit Judge Erik Allen stepped away from the case, and the date of the hearing was vacated pending the appointment of a Special Judge.

Lawrence County Superior Court Judge William Sleva was then appointed on June 21 to preside over the case and a new date for the initial hearing was set.

In late August, during an initial hearing with Judge Sleva on the bench, Judy was formally charged with two counts:

• Child seduction – a child care worker in sexual intercourse or other sexual conduct with a child 16-17 years old, a Level 5 felony, and

• Child seduction – a child care worker engages in fondling or touching with a child 16-17 years old, a Level 6 felony.

The State was represented by Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw. Judy was represented by her Defense Attorney Joseph Lozano of Shapiro & Lozano in Bloomington.

Since then, one negotiated plea agreement was filed then on February 19, two additional counts were filed against Judy and a new negotiated plea agreement was also filed.

The two additional counts added were:

• Obstruction of justice, a Level 6 felony, and

• False informing, a Class A misdemeanor.

Under the terms of the latest negotiated plea agreement, when Judy appeared in Greene Circuit Court last Friday, March 8, before Special Judge Sleva, she was convicted of:

• Obstruction of justice, as a Class A misdemeanor, and

• False informing, also a Class A misdemeanor.

The first two counts involving felony child seduction were dismissed, in keeping with the terms of the agreement.

On the obstruction of justice, Judy was sentenced to one year in the Greene County Jail with four days suspended but she’ll serve this on supervised probation for a period of 361 days and will serve 270 of these days on electronically monitored home detention administered through Greene County Community Corrections. She will also be required to perform 100 hours of community service.

For false informing, she was sentenced to one year in the Greene County Jail, with all days suspended but she’ll be on probation for a period of one year.

These sentences are to be served consecutively, so she’ll serve the one year of probation for false informing after she has completed the sentence for obstruction of justice.

Judy has also been ordered to pay fines and penalties, court costs and various fees and comply with numerous conditions of probation.

The sentencing order also says that if she successfully completes probation, and commits no new criminal offenses, she could file a request for expungement three years after her date of sentencing.