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	Minister Coach Appears on Sex Charge By Brian L. Huchel Commercial-News April 2, 2010 http://commercial-news.com/local/x552028761/Minister-coach-appears-on-sex-charge DANVILLE — No new details were released in the preliminary hearing of a track coach and youth minister accused of sexually assaulting a teenager. Andrew Thomas, 46, of Rossville, appeared Thursday afternoon in Vermilion County Circuit Court for a preliminary hearing with defense attorney Mark Christoff. Thomas faces a charge of criminal sexual assault. Christoff waived the afternoon proceedings before they began and entered a not guilty plea on behalf of his client. A jury trial hearing for the case is scheduled for later in the year. Thomas is accused of illegal sexual acts with a 16-year-old boy sometime between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28. The charge accuses of Thomas of committing the alleged act against the boy while “in a position of trust.” At the time of the offense, Thomas was a youth minister for the Rossville Church of Christ and worked as track coach at Rossville-Alvin Grade School. The school has indicated in early March that Thomas was suspending pending more information in the case. No other charges have been filed against Thomas at the circuit court level. An investigation into the case continues. The criminal sexual assault count is a Class 1 felony with a maximum punishment of 4-15 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. The case is the second of the year. Mark List, then an associate pastor at Danville Christian Academy, was arrested in January on charges aggravated criminal sexual abuse, criminal sexual assault and indecent solicitation of a child for actions allegedly involving a male student.
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