High school coach who did naked fat tests found not guilty of child
molestation, sexual assault
[May 20, 2025]
By KIMBERLEE KRUESI
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A jury has found a former Rhode Island high
school basketball coach not guilty of second-degree child molestation
and second-degree sexual assault after he spent decades asking hundreds
of male student-athletes if they were “shy or not shy” before asking
them to get naked so he could check their body fat.
Instead, the 12 jurors found Aaron Thomas guilty of a lesser charge,
misdemeanor battery, in their verdict handed down Monday. In the final
days of the trial, attorneys agreed that the jury could consider
convicting Thomas of misdemeanor battery rather than the harsher charges
originally issued against the coach.
Throughout the nearly six-week trial, defense attorneys for Thomas
argued that the so-called naked fat tests conducted by the once-beloved
coach at North Kingstown High School were wrong but not a crime. The
defense said Thomas didn’t touch the boy athletes for sexual
gratification or arousal, a key requirement under the charges he faced.
“We’d like to thank the jury for their attention, their hard work, and
for their verdict. We are very satisfied that the jury saw the case as
we saw it, no sexual intent whatsoever,” defense attorney John MacDonald
told reporters outside the court.
Prosecutors maintained Thomas created and implemented a program that
allowed him to have unfettered access to young naked boys for decades.
“Above all else, this case is about the victims who suffered greatly
behind closed doors," said Attorney General Peter Neronha in a
statement. “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. We believe that what took place here was
not just bad judgment, it was, and always has been, criminal conduct.”
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Rhode Island basketball coach Aaron Thomas testifies on Monday, May
5, 2025 in Wakefield, R.I. (WPRI via AP, Pool)
Neronha added that the statute of limitations on second-degree
assault in Rhode Island is three years, a limit that he has pushed
to increase to 10 years and would have allowed him to pursue more
charges.
Under Rhode Island law, misdemeanor battery carries a maximum
one-year prison sentence and a possible fine as high as $1,000.
Sentencing for Thomas will take place June 26.
Although Thomas performed the tests on multiple students over many
years, the charges related to just two former students, including
one who was under 14 at the time, in September 2000 and February
2002.
Thomas' attorneys argued that these former students' testimony were
unreliable — pointing out one of the boy's mental health struggles —
and stressed that they really wanted a monetary payment under a
separate civil lawsuit.
During his testimony, Thomas told the jury that he likely saw more
than 600 students throughout his career, with “roughly 80%” of them
taking their underwear off during the test. The tests involved
Thomas pinching various areas of their bodies, including near the
groin and buttocks. The tests were conducted behind closed doors,
first in a small closet-like room and then eventually in Thomas’
office.
Thomas acknowledged while on the stand that removing the underwear
was not necessary, while body fat composition experts said pinching
near the groin was not backed by science as a way to determine body
fat.
More than a dozen students testified throughout the trial, as well
as law enforcement officers, body composition experts and former
school officials.
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