Craft found not guilty (Ga Teacher on Trial for Molestation)

Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press

RINGGOLD, Ga. — Jurors this afternoon declared former kindergarten teacher Tonya Craft not guilty of molesting three girls.

The jury began deliberating Monday afternoon. Ms. Craft was charged with 22 counts of child molestation.

The Catoosa County Superior Courtroom was packed shoulder to shoulder Monday as the prosecution and defense attorneys made closing arguments.

While prosecutors argued that the three girls’ testimonies were all the evidence needed to convict Ms. Craft, the defense argued those testimonies had inconsistencies and said the children’s parents led their daughters to believe that something bad had happened.
“She was guilty the day she put her hands on these little girls’ private parts, and she’s been guilty ever since,” Assistant District Attorney Chris Arnt said in closing arguments.

“You must for the sake of all of us ... say this has to stop,” defense attorney Demosthenes Lorandos said in his statement. “She is and has always been not guilty.”



Read more: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/may/11/craft-found-not-guilty/

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MSNBC and the Today show have both given this a lot of coverage lately. Thought you all might like to learn the outcome. Ms. Craft was acquitted about 20 minutes ago. Not guilty on all 22 counts.

I didn't find the charges that credible.

I only heard about it on GMA today and it seemed to me to be a cooked up deal by some parents against this woman...talk about "Harper Valley PTA"!!!

god, I'm glad I don't live in that godforsaken Georgia town...it sounds Medieval...

Somehow the judge was able to suspend the 1st Amendment for the duration of the trial...

http://www.wdef.com/news/truth_for_tonya_bumper_sticker_in_violation_of_gag_order/04/2010

I've read bits and pieces, and the bottom line is that these girls might have been
molested. What ultimately happened and who the perpetrator was, are still a mystery.

The mom was best friends with the teacher. The mom found her little girl and the
teacher's little girl in the bedroom with their hands in each other's pants. One
little girl was instructing the other little girl to touch her. These girls
were only five years old. Acting out like this is a major red flag that someone touched
this girl in this way. Little kids will repeat what was done to them, in an effort
to make sense of it. They don't understand.

It's normal for kids to touch themselves, but for a child to be instructing another
child to touch her private area--is a major red flag.

And the parent never suspected the teacher. Ever. It was months later that the child told
her mother that the teacher had touched her.

We'll never really know what happened. In the end, it's the children who might have
been molested who lose--and a perpetrator who has never been found--has escaped
accountability.

Sounds like there was someone molesting the girl but it is not always the parents.

"It's normal for kids to touch themselves, but for a child to be instructing another child to touch her private area--is a major red flag."

Monkey see, monkey do. We're primates, this is how we exchange information.

Sadly there are many many ways that little girls and little boys can now be exposed to inappropruate sexuality, especially if a parent has a television and does not closely monitor what the child watches.

A friend of mine was bemoaning the fact that his three year old son knows the words and dance steps for several Lady Gaga songs and acts them out repeatedly in public, complete with crotch grabbing and other vulgar moves. My suggestion was that the way to deal with the problem should be NOT to expose the child to Lady Gaga and her ilk in the first place.

This was another McMartin-esque witch trial and I'm glad to see cooler heads prevailed.

Hopefully justice was served. I doubt she did the crime.

of too many people. try and get her job back. that will be the test.

I don't believe she did anything.

I don't know how you recover from such allegations, even if found not guilty.

I heard a news teaser that said there was expected to be trouble in that town, no matter what the verdict. Sad.

She is scheduled to be on Today, probably sometime in the 7:30-8 a.m. EST segment, at this rate.

The problem with these types of cases is that they are very difficult to find truth in. Most adults will identify with other adults and this is true for jury members. Children are inarticulate and powerless; they do not have high status in a conflict with an adult.

I was not privy to all the particulars of this trial, but I have taken courses that deal with helping victims of sexual abuse. Therapists have ways of allowing children to give narratives and descriptions with no leading from the adult. This method of evidence discovery is imperative in this type of case. The goal of the professional is to facilitate the truth, not distortions. This case would not have proceeded without good evidence. Prosecutors are loath to waste time on sexual assault cases with flimsy evidence.

The relevant statistic is that the actual incidence of child sexual abuse is far higher than the reported incidence. Children are underprotected as a class.

Maybe this jury did not find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, but that does not mean she didn't commit the offenses.