UPDATE:Piqua Town Meeting Generates Support For Family Burned Out Of Home

A former high school basketball coach reacts briefly to a question tossed at him by Will E Sanders, reporter from the Piqua Daily Call, "What do you say to those who think you started the fire?"

James Clay said, "I can't say anything...no comment."

That was one of a barrage of questions aimed at Clay as he hugged many supporters Thursday evening following a town meeting at the Second Baptist Church in Piqua.

Clay is under a criminal indictment for sexual battery, accusing him of having sex with a student attending Troy Christian High School, where he was a basketball coach. His home was gutted by fire Friday evening on North Troy-Sidney Road near Piqua.

Also found spray painted on his car was a racial slur and the words "guilty" and "leave."

Several people representing the Southern Christian Leadership Conference from out of state arrived in Miami County Thursday morning.

They used the Miami County Courthouse as a backdrop, asking that the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice be called in to help in the investigation into the cause of the fire at the Clay residence.

At the town meeting, Pastor Ted Willis of the church that hosted the meeting, called the fire "an act of terrorism."

Another town meeting is scheduled for this coming Saturday evening at 7 o'clock at the same church on South Wayne Street in Piqua.

Thursday morning, during a pre-trial conference, a judge set an April 8, 2008, date to begin the jury selection in the sexual battery case against Clay.

Steve.Baker@WHIOTV.com