SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — Aaron Thomas, the once-celebrated North Kingstown High School basketball coach, was acquitted of felony charges of second-degree child molestation and second-degree sexual assault for his “naked fat tests’’ of teen male student-athletes.
Instead, the jury in Washington County Superior Court found Thomas guilty on two counts of misdemeanor battery. He’ll return to court for sentencing on June 26 and could face up to a year in prison on each charge.
The jury of six men and six women returned the verdict on Monday, after deliberating since May 14. One juror was replaced during the deliberations after reporting a “potential conflict of interest,’’ which restarted the process.
As the verdict was read, a mother who’d attended the trial in support of her sons embraced a friend. Thomas showed little emotion.
The jurors declined comment after their decision. Thomas did not comment, but stood outside the courthouse as attorney John MacDonald, one of his lawyers, said he thanked the jury for the verdict.
“We are very satisfied that the jury saw the case the way we saw it: No sexual intent whatsoever,’’ MacDonald said.
Thomas was relieved “that he walks out of this courthouse and he’s not a convicted sex offender,’’ MacDonald said.
If Thomas had been convicted of the felonies, he would have faced a minimum mandatory sentence of three years. He would have had to register as a sex offender and wouldn’t be able to work as a teacher.
Thomas had voluntarily suspended his state educator certifications during the criminal investigation and trial. His certification will remain suspended while Rhode Island Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green reviews the relevant evidence and considers additional next steps in consultation with Rhode Island Department of Education legal counsel, spokesperson Victor Morente said.
One former student-athlete who testified against Thomas said, “This verdict is proof perfect of how our laws fall short of holding authority figures accountable for abuses on children.’’
Attorney General Peter F. Neronha addressed the former students who had come forward: “Please remember this: your exceptional courage here is not invalidated by this verdict.’’
“Above all else, this case is about the victims who suffered greatly behind closed doors,’’ Neronha said in a statement. “Despite what the defendant and his defense would have you believe, pseudo-science is not an excuse for abuse, nor is winning more important than well-being. We believe that what took place here was not just bad judgment, it was, and always has been, criminal conduct.’’
Neronha said prosecutors were restricted by the three-year statute of limitations for second-degree sexual assault. His office has tried since 2022 to convince the Rhode Island General Assembly to extend the statute of limitations to 10 years.
If the law had changed, Neronha said, “we could have, and would have, charged [Thomas] with many more crimes.’’
Thomas, 57, lost his job in early 2021 after former student-athletes told school administrators he had performed private “naked fat tests’’ on them. The accusations became public in October 2021, after Thomas was hired to teach at Monsignor Clarke, a Catholic school in South Kingstown. He was fired shortly after.
That led to revelations that school officials were told in June 2021 that Thomas was a “potential threat and liability,’’ according to an investigative report. Subsequent investigations for the school committee in March 2022 and the town in June 2022 were scathing, finding school officials had been blind to Thomas’s actions — and that Thomas had lied about what he was doing.
School officials stepped down. The interim superintendent restructured the athletic department. Former student-athletes filed civil lawsuits.
Thomas was charged in July 2022 with second-degree child molestation on a player who alleged he was tested starting when he was 13, in 2001; and second-degree sexual assaulton a player who was tested between September 2019 and June 30, 2020.
Thomas admitted that 600 teenage boys playing sports at North Kingstown had gone through his self-designed body-fat tests over 28 years.
Thomas asked every one of them the same question, every time: “Are you shy or not shy?’’ It was the phrase he used to invite the boys to take off their underwear, so he could use his hands and calipers to pinch and probe around their groins, their inner thighs, and the muscles leading to their genitals. Thomas testified that he came up with his own version of body-fat tests based on his own research. A body-composition expert testified about numerous flaws in Thomas’s tests.
During his five days on the witness stand, Thomas admitted that he lied — to school administrators in 2018 and the North Kingstown police in 2021 — claiming the teens weren’t naked. He admitted that he continued testing naked boys in his office, despite being told not to be alone with students.
Amanda Milkovits can be reached at amanda.milkovits@globe.com.
