Hearing set for former PCPS coach in Shawnee; Multi-Grand Jury investigation requested

OKLAHOMA CITY —  nondoc.com is reporting that Sen. Shane Jett of Shawnee is requesting a multi-county grand jury investigate allegations against former Ponca City Ponca City Public School employee and former Shawnee Assistant Athletic Director, Ronald Gene Arthur.

Arthur, 52, was charged on Sept. 9, 2021, with felony counts of soliciting sexual contact with a minor by use of technology, forcible sodomy, and second degree rape.

On Dec. 29, 2021, the charges were dismissed and refiled on Jan. 4, 2022 with the rape charge amended to first degree rape.

Arthur, 51, worked as a basketball manager and boys basketball head coach for PCPS from 1993 to 2001. The investigation began after a former Shawnee High School student reported engaging in a sexual encounter with Arthur in a vehicle on a dead-end road. 

Pottawatomie County deputy Amber Soule reports in the affidavit that school disciplinary records were obtained via search warrants that  reportedly show eight admonishments and suspensions levied against Arthur for vulgar and sexual comments made to male students and vulgar comments about female students. (see story)

According to Arthur’s Linkedin page, he was employed at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College from 2002-04; Muskogee Public Schools 2001-02 and PCPS 1993-2001 and that he is a graduate of Oklahoma State University.

In 2020 he stepped down as the Shawnee boy’s head basketball coach, a position he held for 16 years. He remained the assistant athletic director, a position he was appointed to in 2015.

Jett fears that there could be victims in Ponca City, Muskogee and Miami as accusations reportedly span back to 2006.

Arthur is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Shawnee on April 21. Click here to read the entire story on nondoc.com