A former high school coach who earlier spent more than four years in prison was incarcerated again this week for allegedly violating a law prohibiting sex offenders from being on premises where minors are regularly present.

Kemp Douglas Phillips, 40, of 230 Laurel Lane, was arrested on the felony charge Tuesday and confined in the Surry County Jail under a $50,000 secured bond, according to Mount Airy Police Department records.

A jail spokesman said Wednesday afternoon that Phillips — a former Mount Airy High School basketball coach who led the Bears to a state championship in 2001 — later posted bond and was released.

The ex-coach had been freed from the state prison system in January 2008 after being convicted in September 2003 of multiple offenses of taking indecent liberties with a child and other sex-related violations involving female students at the high school.

Phillips’ latest arrest stemmed from a citizen complaint made to police last Friday about his presence at Pro Health, a fitness and health business on North Pointe Boulevard in Mount Airy. Lt. Jim Armbrister, the arresting officer, said Phillips had been frequenting the fitness center for about the past year.

The law under which Phillips was charged specifies that convicted sex offenders may not be “at any place” where minors gather for regularly scheduled educational, recreational or social programs.

A spokeswoman for Pro Health said Wednesday night that Phillips only worked out there in the mornings and never came into direct contact with children.

Police, however, say the center contains nursery child care, after-school child care and other programs that minors attend.

“When we gain knowledge of something like that, we have to act on it,” Armbrister said of the situation facing law enforcement in such cases. He added that two other local residents have been arrested on similar charges recently, involving their alleged sightings at Reeves Community Center and the Emily B. Taylor Greenway.

Phillips was taken into custody without incident Tuesday night at his home, arrest records show.

Armbrister acknowledged that an offender being at a facility such as Pro Health could be totally innocent, yet police must follow through with these cases. If this kind of incident was ignored and innocent parties were harmed as a result, not only would someone be victimized but the Police Department could face potential liability problems for failing to act, he explained.

The police spokesman also indicated that Phillips should have known of the law prohibiting his presence at a facility frequented by children, because offenders are briefed on such restrictions and obligations once they are released back into society. “They’re definitely aware,” Armbrister said.

Phillips was a star guard on the basketball team at North Surry High School, still recalled for helping the Greyhounds capture the Frank Spencer Tournament in Winston-Salem in the mid-1980s. He later played college ball at Appalachian State University before coaching first at North Stokes High and later at Mount Airy.

The initial charges resulted from a city police investigation of Phillips’ activities while serving as a coach and teacher there. It uncovered allegations of intercourse inside the coach’s office in the basement of the MAHS gymnasium. During the course of that inquiry, a former student came forward and also detailed a sexual relationship with Phillips while she was enrolled at the school.

In an interview from prison in December 2007 shortly before his release, Phillips acknowledged his mistakes. But the ex-coach said he was looking forward to trying to rebuild his life and be a better person, especially in relation to his family members, whom he said remained supportive throughout his incarceration. That family includes a wife and small children.

After his release from prison, Phillips was to be on probation for a supervision term of 48 months, according to state prison records.

He now is employed by a family owned used-car business on West Lebanon Street.

Phillips is scheduled to be in Surry District Court on July 14.