Bishop pleas to lesser charge
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By Carmen Ensinger
After two full years on the Greene County court docket, a plea deal has been reached in the case involving a former Greenfield volunteer baseball coach and IHSA official.
Originally charged with Grooming in September of 2021 by Greene County State’s Attorney Caleb Briscoe, 25-year-old Austin L. Bishop, of Greenfield, pled guilty on Friday, Sept. 22, to a reduced charge of Transmitting an Obscene Message, a Class B misdemeanor in Greene County Circuit Court
According to court documents, Bishop is alleged to have requested nude photos and videos of a female minor via text message in September of 2021.
Originally, an arrest warrant was issued for Grooming and Bishop turned himself into Greenfield Police and was taken into custody by the Greene County Sheriff’s Department.
Bishop resigned his position as a volunteer baseball coach for the Greenfield/Northwestern baseball team and as an IHSA sports official soon after the charges were filed in 2021.
Bishop, who was represented by Attorney David Leefers, pled guilty to the added lesser charge in front of visiting Jersey County Judge Allison Lorton, who sentenced him to one year of conditional discharge and ordered him to pay a county fine. The Class 4 felony charge carried a possible prison term of between 1 to 3 years.
