Volleyball coach Justin Blankenbecler accused of fondling 16-year-old

Cobb County police said they arrested a high school volleyball coach accused of kissing and fondling a 16-year-old student.

Justin Allen Blankenbecler, of Kennesaw, was charged Thursday afteoon with two counts of sexual assault, both felonies, and one misdemeanor count of sexual assault, Cobb jail records showed. He was being held Friday afteoon on $10,000 bond.

Blankenbecler, in his first year at Kell High School, is the coach for the junior varsity girls team, according to the school’s website. The alleged assault happened Wednesday afteoon and involved one of his players, according to his warrant, obtained by The Atlanta Joual-Constitution.

Under Georgia law, consent is not an eligible defense for those with supervisory and disciplinary authority over an alleged victim of sexual assault.

Blankenbecler, a special education teacher, is a Virginia native who eaed undergraduate and graduate degrees from George Mason University, according to his online profile on the Kell website.

The Cobb County school system declined to comment on the arrest.