Ten Executions Gone Shockingly Wrong
Weird Teacher Watch: Tonya Craft Acquitted Of Molestation Charges
Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 11:01 am
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UPDATE: Tonya Craft is about to get her revenge. She's filed a $25 million lawsuit against police and her accusers, claiming her civil rights were violated though false accusations and leading questions by police interviewers. See the update after the jump...
It all started in the summer of 2007 with the words "sex and kisses" scrawled in sidewalk chalk.
Tonya Craft was throwing a pool party for her two children and their friends, many of whom were or had once been students in Craft's kindergarten class at Chickamauga Elementary School in Chickamauga, Georgia.
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| Tonya Craft was fired from her job and had her kids taken away from her nearly two years ago |
The girl said she'd learned it from one of her classmates, who later told Wilson that she'd learned it from Craft herself, claiming that Craft had fondled her at her home during a sleep over.
People were shocked by the allegations. After all, the 37-year-old mother of two had been a local kindergarten teacher for over 15 years -- a beacon of the community and an extremely involved mom who often hosted sleepovers and parties at her home.
Then, two more girls came forward with similar allegations after they were caught fooling around in bed by one of their mothers. When asked where they learned such behavior, they said Mrs. Craft.
After interviewing the girls and their parents, Craft was charged with dozens of counts of child molestation and one count of aggravated sexual battery in May 2008 for incidents that allegedly occurred at her home between 2005 and 2007.
Craft has maintained her innocence through and through and has found a strong network of supporters, who run a site called Truth for Tonya.
Despite the fact that Craft has yet to be convicted of any crime, she was fired from her teaching job and her children have been removed from her custody.
Last month, Craft's trial finally got underway. Over the past two weeks, numerous witnesses, as well as the accusers and their parents have been called to the stand. As people have given their testimony, however, the story hasn't gotten any clearer.
One girl, who was fingered by the other accusers as a victim, denied that Craft ever touched her inappropriately, though the alleged victims claim she'd cried herself to sleep at a slumber party after Craft touched her inappropriately. Other girls who were also in attendance at the sleep overs in question claim that they saw and heard nothing as well.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have also supplied doctor's exams of all three victims, claiming that the physical evidence offers concrete proof that Craft digitally violated them. They've also brought in character witnesses to testify to Craft's "past sexual experience," including her ex-husband, who said that she enjoyed watching lesbian pornography.
The defense is arguing that the three girls are part of a conspiracy developed by a scorned parent who was upset that Craft held their child back in school. They claim that threats were made to parents and bribes were even offered.
As her trial comes to a close, it's hard to guess how the jury will decide with all of the conflicting evidence and testimony.
What do you think?
Last week, many readers expressed their sympathy for Craft's plight. After all, being charged with 22 counts of child molestation is no laughing matter -- especially when you're innocent. Which is exactly what Craft is.
After two days of deliberation, the jury acquitted Craft on all charges on Tuesday evening, which is really not that big of a surprise seeing as the testimony given by the prosecutions was shaky at best.
In the end, Craft has told the press that she could never let herself believe that a guilty verdict could exist. She says she has no anger towards the children, only deep sympathy and sadness. She says her first goal is to try and regain custody of her own children. Tonight, her defense team will appear on CNN's Larry King Live.
Now the question is, how does Craft move on from this?
UPDATE II: Tonya Craft has filed a $25 million lawsuit against her accusers.
Though she was acquitted on all counts, she was fired from her job and had her children taken away from her almost two years ago. Now she's seeking revenge.
The suit names 15 people and agencies, including the mothers of the children who made claims against her. Among them are Dewayne and Sherri Wilson, who Craft believed were angry because she flunked their daughter in her kindergarten class.
Also named is the sheriff's department, detectives and child advocacy groups.
The suit alleges that Craft had her civil rights violated through false claims and investigators' leading questions in interviews with children, which led the kids to make false accusations.
UPDATE II: Tonya Craft has filed a $25 million lawsuit against her accusers.
Though she was acquitted on all counts, she was fired from her job and had her children taken away from her almost two years ago. Now she's seeking revenge.
The suit names 15 people and agencies, including the mothers of the children who made claims against her. Among them are Dewayne and Sherri Wilson, who Craft believed were angry because she flunked their daughter in her kindergarten class.
Also named is the sheriff's department, detectives and child advocacy groups.
The suit alleges that Craft had her civil rights violated through false claims and investigators' leading questions in interviews with children, which led the kids to make false accusations.
Tags: Georgia, Weird Teacher Watch
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