FRANKLIN, Neb. — A former Nebraska high school teacher and football coach will face sentencing in a sexual assault case involving an underage student.

Anthony Campana, 38, of Holdrege pleaded no contest to first-degree sexual assault of a minor and manufacturing a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped three sexual abuse by a school employee charges and reduced one of the other charges.

Campana had been the head football coach at Franklin High School since 2022 and worked at the school as a paraprofessional. He also was owner and head coach of the Kearney Hawks, a short-lived professional indoor football team that folded in 2017.

The allegations date back to January when police found Campana in a car with a 16-year-old girl. At the time, the girl told law enforcement that she had sexual intercourse with Campana after she turned 16, which is the age of consent in Nebraska. A couple of months later, the state added the assault charge and said Campana first had sex with the girl when she was 15.

Campana is scheduled to be sentenced January 8. He faces a minimum of three years in prison for the depiction charge and at least one year for the sexual assault charge.