A former Durant High School coach’s aid is accused of making indecent proposals to a couple of students.
Thirty-two-year-old Adrain Dondrea Steen Jr. of Durant was charged last month with two counts of lewd/indecent proposals or acts to a child under 16.
The charges and arrest are the result of an investigation by the Durant Police Department.
In February of last year, Sgt. Travis Dill was notified of a possible inappropriate relationship between Steen and two female students. An affidavit states that during the investigation and interviews, both students said they had a sexually explicit conversation with Steen.
Steen, according to the affidavit, admitted to discussing have sex with the students.
The investigation also revealed that Steen was sent photos by a student and that Steen had sent a picture of himself, the affidavit states. The incident is believed to have began in September 2022, according to the affidavit.
Steen was booked into the Bryan County Jail and his bond was set at $100,000. A preliminary hearing conference for him was set Feb. 21. He has not been employed by the school district for a while.
In other news, a house burned early new year’s morning, according to the Durant Fire Department. Firefighters were dispatched at 12:05 a.m. to 1125 Grand Ave. and when they arrived, there was fire and smoke coming from the roof at the back of the house.
Firefighters entered the house and found a litter of puppies and a mother dog in a bedroom. A firefighter was able to rescue two of the puppies before firefighters were ordered out of the house due to the fire, according to a DFD report.
The homeowner arrived on scene and said the house was occupied by his stepchildren who were not home. Firefighters reentered the home after the fire was brought under control and went room-toroom until the fire was completely extinguished and they cleared the scene at 3:13 that morning.
The cause of the fire was not determined at the time of the report and it is under investigation by the Choctaw Tribal Fire Marshal’s Office.