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Former Fayetteville Schools AD Pleads Guilty In Sex Sting

FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) – A former Fayetteville School District athletic director, who was arrested in a child sex sting in October of 2013, pleaded guilty in...

FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) - A former Fayetteville School District athletic director, who was arrested in a child sex sting in October of 2013, pleaded guilty in a Benton County courtroom on Thursday (Sept. 25), officials say.

Barry Gebhart pleaded guilty to felony sexual indecency with a child before Circuit Judge Robin Green, according to officials.

He was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, according to deputy prosecuting attorney Stuart Cearley.

Gebhart was also ordered to pay a $150 court fee, $20 booking fee, $250 DNA testing fee and a $250 sex offender registration fee, Cearley said.

He will not be allowed to have unsupervised access to minors, but he can still see his daughter and any children he has in the future without supervision, Cearley said.

In addition to probation, Gebhart was sentenced to two days in jail, but he was also credited for the two days he spent in jail after he was first arrested, Cearley said. He won't see any additional jail time due to the two days he was in jail during his arrest, according to Cearley.

The former athletic director will have to register as a sex offender, and what level of sex offender he will become will be determined by the Sex Offender Screening Committee, according to Cearley. It could take a while for the committee to determine his level, Cearley said.

After being a registered sex offender for 15 years, Gebhart can petition a court to have himself removed from the active sex offender database, according to Cearley.

Gebhart was arrested in an undercover sex sting operation in October 2013. Authorities said he thought he was meeting a 14-year-old girl at a Dillard's at the Pinnacle Promenade Mall in Rogers. When Gebhart arrived, he was met by an undercover officer, authorities said.

According to investigators, Gebhart first connected with the girl through the social media site, Whisper, and sent her at least one inappropriate image of himself.

Click here to read the arrest warrant affidavit for Barry Gebhart.

Gebhart had been the athletic director for the Fayetteville School District since 2009. He served as head boys’ basketball coach at Fayetteville High School for almost 18 years, from July, 1992 to March, 2010, according to his LinkedIn profile. He resigned from his position, following his arrest.

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