LANCASTER, Ohio (WCMH) — The former athletic director at Bloom-Carroll High School who was accused of sexual battery might not have a trial.

According to documents filed with Fairfield County Common Pleas Court, Chad Little, who was indicted in September on four counts of sexual battery, has asked to his have Feb. 7 trial vacated by changing his plea to guilty. Part of Little’s plea change includes a joint sentencing recommendation of 4 1/2 years in prison.

His next court appearance to change his plea is set for March 9.

Little resigned from the district in November 2022 while he was on unpaid leave, according to Bloom-Carroll Local School District Superintendent Shawn Haughn.

Court documents alleged Little’s conduct took place between March 1, 2018, and Sept. 30, 2020, in the Bloom-Carroll district school, where he worked and the student was enrolled. The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office, which handled taking Little into custody, added that the student is no longer enrolled.

NBC4 obtained Little’s personnel record, which shed light on disciplinary action the state and school district took against Little before his arrest. In 2013, the Bloom-Carroll superintendent at the time punished Little when a parent reported that he sent an “inappropriate” text message to a student-athlete.

That same issue repeated in 2019, when current superintendent Shawn Haughn wrote a letter to Little about more text messages. In September of that year, Little reported to Haughn that a student sent him a text message four months earlier. Haughn wrote that Little responded to the student appropriately, but also noted the long delay in Little’s reporting.

As punishment for that incident, Haughn made Little study four articles on professional relationships and write an essay reflecting on them. He also told the athletic director he wasn’t allowed to text, personally email, or send a social media message to any student again, including as a response.