{"id":222428,"date":"2025-10-09T15:02:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T20:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=222428"},"modified":"2025-10-09T15:02:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T20:02:22","slug":"former-gym-teacher-convicted-rapist-found-dead-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/former-gym-teacher-convicted-rapist-found-dead-in-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Gym Teacher, Convicted Rapist Found Dead in Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-estimated-reading-time yoast-reading-time__wrapper\"><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__icon\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-icon=\"clock\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" style=\"display:inline-block;vertical-align:-0.1em\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M12 8v4l3 3m6-3a9 9 0 11-18 0 9 9 0 0118 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__spacer\" style=\"display:inline-block;width:1em\"><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__descriptive-text\">Estimated reading time: <\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__reading-time\">2<\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__time-unit\"> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-\"><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>A former North Carolina middle school gym teacher \u2014 convicted of repeatedly raping a 15-year-old girl \u2014 was killed by another inmate inside his prison cell early Sunday, according to officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Inmate killed at Greene County state prison\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bBUEJ7XBf3Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ernest Nichols, 60, was found unresponsive at Greene Correctional Institution in Maury, North Carolina, just before 7 a.m., according to a statement from the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prison staff performed CPR and called EMS, but Nichols was pronounced dead before 7:30 a.m., reports <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.witn.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"former-gym-teacher-convicted-rapist-found-dead-in-prison\" title=\"Former Gym Teacher, Convicted Rapist Found Dead in Prison\">WITN-TV<\/a>.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By Tuesday, the Greene County Sheriff\u2019s Office served a murder warrant to another inmate, Wilbert Baldwin, who is already serving time for second-degree murder, according to <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.witn.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"former-gym-teacher-convicted-rapist-found-dead-in-prison\" title=\"Former Gym Teacher, Convicted Rapist Found Dead in Prison\">WRAL<\/a><\/em> and <em><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/10\/07\/us-news\/disgraced-middle-school-teacher-who-repeatedly-raped-15-year-old-girl-killed-in-prison-by-convicted-murderer\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"former-gym-teacher-convicted-rapist-found-dead-in-prison\" title=\"Former Gym Teacher, Convicted Rapist Found Dead in Prison\">The New York Post.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-history-of-abuse-and-deceit\"><strong>A History of Abuse and Deceit<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Nichols was a longtime gym teacher at Ranson Middle School in Charlotte, where he worked for 14 years before being arrested in 2009 on 27 charges, including multiple sex crimes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His 15-year-old victim, who was not a student at the school, told police that Nichols raped her repeatedly over six months after impersonating his own son on Facebook and MySpace to lure her in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-see-also-is-7-creedmoor-the-new-6-5\">SEE ALSO: <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/7-creedmoor-the-new-6-5\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"former-gym-teacher-convicted-rapist-found-dead-in-prison\" title=\"Former Gym Teacher, Convicted Rapist Found Dead in Prison\">Is 7 Creedmoor the new 6.5?<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Investigators said Nichols sent the girl explicit messages, demanded she write sexual stories, and ordered her to notify him whenever she entered the shower. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to court documents, he even watched her engage in sexual acts with another male and told her to say she \u201cwanted\u201d to have sex with him if anyone asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When confronted by the victim\u2019s mother, Nichols reportedly called himself a \u201cpig\u201d and showed no remorse. Police later seized videotapes, cameras, photographs, and sex toys from his home during the arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2011, Nichols was convicted of statutory rape and sentenced to 15 years in prison, with a projected release date in September 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-investigation-underway\"><strong>Investigation Underway<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The prison was placed on lockdown following the killing. Sheriff Matt Sasser confirmed the death is being investigated as a murder and said officials expect further updates soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nichols\u2019 violent death ends a long, disgraceful chapter for the former educator who preyed on a teenager \u2014 and serves as another reminder of how prison justice often comes swiftly for those convicted of crimes against children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\" style=\"font-size:24px\"><strong><em>*** <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"former-gym-teacher-convicted-rapist-found-dead-in-prison\" title=\"Former Gym Teacher, Convicted Rapist Found Dead in Prison\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a> ***<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2011, Nichols was convicted of statutory rape and sentenced to 15 years in prison, with a projected release date in September 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":222431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4024],"tags":[132,607],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-222428","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-buzz","9":"tag-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Former Gym Teacher, Convicted Rapist Found Dead in Prison<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former North Carolina gym teacher Ernest Nichols, convicted of raping a 15-year-old, was found dead in his prison cell after an inmate attack.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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