PARKERSBURG — A former local swimming coach will have a plea hearing today in Wood County Circuit Court on charges where he allegedly engaged in sexual assault and sexual abuse of girls under the age of 12.

David Andrew Adams, 38, of Parkersburg, appeared before Circuit Judge Jason Wharton on Tuesday for a status hearing on his case with his attorney William Merriman.

Trial in the case was originally scheduled to begin Monday, Dec. 15.

Special Prosecutor David Wayne Hancock of Jackson County asked for a little time to make an additional phone call to a witness and their parents, “regarding the possibility of a plea agreement” and plea negotiations in the case.

Wharton took a short recess to handle other matters and came back a short time later where Hancock asked for a plea hearing to be scheduled.

The hearing will be held before Wharton today at 11:15 a.m. to enter a plea.

According to the original criminal complaint filed June 15, 2023, between October 2018 and October 2020, Adams, as the head swim coach of the Parkersburg Sharks at the Parkersburg YMCA, allegedly engaged in sexual contact with a young girl, who was 9-11 years old, on three separate occasions.

According to interviews with the child, the coach would swim in the pool swim lane while working on swim strokes and on two separate occasions used his hand to inappropriately touch her. The complaint also alleges Adams also touched the girl once outside the water near the diving blocks.

Adams was indicted in September 2024 on two counts of felony sexual assault in the first degree, three counts of felony sexual assault in the third degree, 11 counts of felony sexual abuse by a person in a position of trust, two counts of felony sexual abuse in the first degree and nine counts of felony sexual abuse in the first degree.

The indictments made references to five girls, who were born between 2009 and 2012, who were victims in this case and allegedly abused over a period of January 2018 to March 2023.

The North Star Child Advocacy Center assisted with the investigation. The Wood County Sheriff’s Department and the Parkersburg Narcotics Task Force also assisted with the investigation and arrest of Adams.