Former R.I. high school coach Aaron Thomas testifies he was not trained or certified in body fat or body mass training
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Thomas had worked for the North Kingstown school district since 1989, starting as a substitute teacher and assistant football coach, and eventually becoming a celebrated head basketball coach and popular communications teacher at the high school. That ended in early 2021, after the school administration received complaints from former students that Thomas had developed a '
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An expert in body-composition testing told the jury earlier in the trial
that there was no valid reason to test near someone's groin, and there was no reason for anyone to be naked. A pediatrician also testified about the need to protect a child's modesty during exams, and having a medical professional as a chaperone. His description of 'puberty tests' also didn't match the descriptions that former athletes testified that Thomas administered on them.
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On Friday,
Thomas testified that he was not trained or certified in body fat or body mass training.
Thomas
appeared to be most comfortable answering questions from John Calcagni III, one of his attorneys, on his experience as a coach running the basketball program, and starting the communications program.
Thomas said he set up video cameras connected to a CCTV monitor in his office, after equipment was stolen years before. The cameras show video feeds of outside his door, his classroom and hallway. He said the VHS recorder for the monitor broke after a few years.
The school installed its own security system in 2017, but Thomas's cameras remained, allowing a live feed of anyone entering the area.
Thomas is expected to resume his testimony on Monday.
Four other former student-athletes testified for the defense Thursday and
Friday. Two said their families were friends with Thomas; a third said Thomas tried to help him when he was trying to play basketball in college.
Their high school careers spanned from 1997 to 2019, and their description of the 'fat tests' were nearly as consistent as the 10 men who testified for the prosecution.
Judge Melanie Wilk Thunberg has asked the media not to identify the former student-athletes.
Alone, in a small office, Thomas measured them in their underwear and then posed the question, 'Are you shy or not shy?' about removing their boxers. They either stripped down or hiked up their boxers, so Thomas could pinch with his hands and calipers at various places on their bodies, including near their groins.
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Each testified the tests were quick and that Thomas's demeanor was 'professional,' 'like a doctor's office,' 'matter-of-fact.' Each also agreed with Thomas's lawyer John E. MacDonald that Thomas didn't touch their private parts or say or do anything sexual while they were naked.
None, however, were clear about why Thomas was testing near their groins, but assumed that it was necessary. Some said that they knew Thomas was analytical and cared about statistics.
One said that when the high school got a machine to test for body composition that he didn't like using it, because the numbers were higher than when Thomas performed the tests himself. He said he didn't know why the school had purchased the machine.
The jury previously heard testimony that the
The former student testified that he went back to being tested by Thomas, because he didn't like the machine. Recently, he was contacted by MacDonald to testify on Thomas's behalf.
'I feel like I had a good experience going through it. I was obviously close with Coach Thomas in basketball, I had a locker in front of him four years of high school, I had a conversation with him every morning, I went through a lot of different seasons with him,' the young man said. 'I felt like if I was contacted, I needed to give a statement, whether here, or a police report.'
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He thought the program had benefited him. He also testified that no other teacher or coach asked him to take off his clothes.
'You trusted him and trusted that everything he was doing was for your benefit,' asked assistant attorney general Timothy Healy.
'Yes, absolutely,' the young man replied.
Amanda Milkovits can be reached at
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