Jackson High School ex-coach Scott Studer set to plead guilty over nude videos

CANTON, Ohio - Prosecutors have been told to expect a guilty plea from a former high school basketball coach charged with videotaping nude boys in the locker room over an eight-year period, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

The attorney for Scott Studer, 46, signaled the plans to plead guilty to eight counts of illegal use of a minor in a nudity-oriented material or performance, Assistant Stark County prosecutor Chryssa Hartnett said.

At Jackson High School Tuesday night the boys basketball team took on rival Canton McKinley. Word of a potential plea was well received. "As long as he gets what is good for him," said Frank Swogger. "We'll see what happens tomorrow," said Ron Watling. "We need to put it away, can't be continuing on and on and on."

Studer pled not guilty in November to the allegations he secretly recorded players as they showered.

His attorney, James Haupt, couldn't be reached for comment. A message was left at his office Tuesday.

The pending guilty plea, first reported by The Repository in Canton, involves all eight counts of the indictment returned against him, Hartnett said.

The prosecution hasn't offered leniency or any other consideration in return for a guilty plea, she said. Studer could face 64 years in prison and the sentence will be up to the judge, Hartnett said.

Studer coached at Jackson High School near Canton and was arrested after investigators searched his home and found nude images on a DVD, a computer and a flash drive. He quit the day he was arrested last month.