Former Stonewall Jackson coach to serve five days for sex with student

A former Stonewall Jackson High School girls’ basketball coach was sentenced Friday to serve five days in jail for having sex with a student about six years ago.

Nsonji White pleaded guilty in October to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, which was reduced from a felony charge of taking indecent liberties with a minor. He also pleaded guilty to a felony charge of sodomy. Prosecutors dropped two other charges.

At a sentencing hearing Friday, Prince William Circuit Court Judge Craig Johnson set White’s sentence at three years on the sodomy charge, with all but five days suspended and to 12 months on the misdemeanor charge, with all that time suspended. He was also ordered to serve three years probation and to register as a sex offender.

Johnson did not impose the sentence Friday, but said he will do so on March 15.

As a condition of his probation, White is not allowed to have unsupervised contact with adolescent girls who are not his daughters. Johnson also said White should not coach girls’ basketball.

White was arrested in June 2011, after a woman told police that she and White had a sexual relationship when she was a 17-year-old student at Stonewall Jackson High School in 2004 and 2005, police said at the time.

In court Friday, Johnson characterized the relationship as a consensual affair, but one that should not have occurred because of White’s role as a coach.

At the time of his arrest, White was an attendance officer at the school and was the coach of the girls’ basketball team. He was placed on administrative leave at the time of his arrest and was later fired.

White, who now lives in North Carolina, was a popular and successful coach at Stonewall, and led the team to its first appearance in the Group AAA state championships.

Several people who knew White as a basketball coach submitted letters to the court on his behalf.

“We can only hope he can continue his good work which has been a true blessing to the youth playing basketball in Prince William County,” one of his supporters wrote.

Friday, White apologized for his actions.

“This has been a real tough situation…I am deeply sorry for the harm I have caused,” White said. “I embarrassed my family… was terminated from a job I love and lost the respect of many in the community.”

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-530-3908.