Ex-North Kingstown High Basketball Coach Acquitted Of Sex Crimes, Convicted Of Battery

NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI — Former North Kingstown High School boys basketball coach Aaron Thomas has been acquitted of child molestation and sexual assault charges in connection to the "naked fat test" scandal, but a jury convicted him for battery.

Thomas was found not guilty Monday of second-degree child molestation and second-degree sexual assault, and guilty of two counts of misdemeanor battery.

Former students accused Thomas of asking students to strip naked in his office for so-called "fat tests," and say he had been doing so since the 1990s. Students in a lawsuit also accused Thomas of putting his hand down a boy's short to conduct "growth plate examinations."

Thomas’ attorney John MacDonald requested during the trial that the charge of battery be considered, arguing the evidence was not sufficient for molestation and sexual assault charges.

"We were very satisfied that the jury saw the case as we saw it: no sexual intent whatsoever." MacDonald told WPRI 12. "The jury needed to compromise — they needed an alternative charge. That alternative charge was battery, and that's exactly what they compromised on."

Thomas faces up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine for each battery conviction. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26.

"Above all else, this case is about the victims who suffered greatly behind closed doors, and 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," Attorney General Peter Neronha said in response to the ruling. "We believe that what took place here was not just bad judgment, it was, and always has been, criminal conduct."

Neronha said the case also shed light on why the statue of limitation for second-degree sexual assault needs to be longer than three years.

"Since 2022, this office has introduced legislation to extend the second-degree sexual assault look back period, so that we can seek and achieve justice on behalf of future victims in cases like this one," Neronha said. "Had the statute of limitations been 10 years rather than three during the commission of these crimes, we could have, and would have, charged the defendant with many more crimes."

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