‘Not a pioneer, a predator': Former R.I. basketball coach designed ‘naked fat tests' to abuse boys, prosecutor says

Boston Globe

13-05-2025

'Are you
For weeks, his lawyers and Thomas himself sought to portray a
focused and driven coach who developed his own body-fat or composition tests for his basketball players as well as select other teenage male athletes. Thomas testified that he did his own research for body-fat formulas and flexibility, as well as for putting pressure on athletes' groins to check for injuries.
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The 'shy' question was to invite the teen boys to remove their underwear, so Thomas could pinch and press along the inside of their upper thighs, the 'v muscle' leading to their groin, and next to their genitals.
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Thomas had no training or certification, and an expert testified that Thomas's tests were flawed — and there was no reason for anyone to be naked. School officials were adamant that no one should be alone with students , who should never be naked. Medical experts testified how to properly conduct exams of injuries and 'puberty tests' — which didn't resemble anything Thomas was doing. The 'Mickey Mouse' consent forms that Thomas eventually came up with didn't give students or parents any details about the testing program, including that he'd be touching their naked groins.
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On Tuesday, as the yearbook photos of 10 former student-athletes were projected onto the wall across from the jury, Thomson recited their testimony about the former coach's tests. Judge Melanie Wilk Thunberg has asked the media not to identify the former student-athletes.
'It has ruined me.' 'What happened to me was not OK.'
'It was always the same thing, always trying to get me naked.'
'I thought he was singling me out because I was a good basketball player, but he was singling me out because he wanted to get me naked.'
The photos together made it impossible to ignore the similarities between the boys — small, thin, and prepubescent. Although they attended North Kingstown High School at different times, from the 1990s through 2020, their experiences in Thomas's 'naked fat tests' were also similar.
'The carefully manufactured image that he made for himself was absolutely vital for him to be able to abuse and sexually assault all those boys for nearly 30 years without question and without consequences,' Thomson said. 'The boys admired him, they respected him, and above all else, they trusted him … trusted him as a coach and person in authority that everything he was doing was for their benefit."
One of the four former student-athletes who testified on Thomas's behalf was taken aback when Thomson asked him if his opinion about the tests would have changed if he'd known there was no reason to be naked, she reminded the jury. 'Why?' he wondered.
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'The answer is simple,' Thomson said. 'He wanted unfettered access to naked boys all to himself, so he created a program that granted that to him for nearly 30 years.'
Thomas is charged with second-degree child molestation, based on a player who alleged he was tested when he was 13, in 2001 to early 2002; and second-degree sexual assault, from a player who was tested between September 2019 and June 30, 2020.
A jury of six men and six women is now deliberating. They must find without a reasonable doubt that Thomas touched the inner thighs and groins of the teen athletes for sexual gratification or arousal. For the child molestation charge, the jury must also find that the alleged victim was under 14 years old.
If convicted, Thomas faces between three and 15 years in prison for second-degree sexual assault, and between six to 30 years in prison for second-degree child molestation.
JudgeThunberg instructed the jury on Monday that if they find Thomas not guilty of those charges, they can consider misdemeanor battery.
The former athlete who said he was 13
when Thomas performed the testing on him testified about the trauma he later suffered, starting with a mental-health breakdown that sent him to Butler Hospital his senior year. The former athlete who was tested in 2019 and 2020 testified about getting an erection when Thomas was pressing on his naked groin, and that he also saw the coach with an erection.
Both former athletes were consistent about their recollections and gave emotional testimony about the impact on their lives.
Thomas denied that he had an erection or saw any teens with an erection, and denied that he tested the former athlete at age 13.
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'Of course, he's going to tell you he didn't do it… he conveniently crafts this narrative … where he walked the line to criminality,' Thomson said. 'The moment it steps him over the line into a criminal charge, it's 'No way, they're lying.' or 'They're confused.' '
Some of the former athletes testified that Thomas did 'hernia checks' and 'puberty checks' by feeling around their naked groins. Thomas denied doing that, saying it was 'trigger point' testing.
The prosecutor told the jury that Thomas came up with that label while researching methods during his own trial.
'You were told he was obsessed with data and he was like [former Patriots coach] Bill Belichick,' Thomson said. 'But he is just who the athletes said he was —
She was referring to the former gymnastics doctor convicted of sexually assaulting female athletes under the guise of medical treatment. One of Thomas's former athletes testified that Nassar's case prompted him to contact authorities in 2018.
This case started because some former student-athletes kept trying to draw attention to Thomas's actions, finally succeeding in bringing it to the public's attention
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'You have the ability to let these boys know that you heard them,' Thomson told the jury. 'They said for years we tried to bring attention to this, the administration, the police, no one was listening, no one heard us, but you have. Let these boys know you heard them and do what hasn't been done for 30 years, hold this man accountable for his actions.'
During
But, Thomson said Tuesday, most aren't, and all came forward for the same reason.
'The only motive these boys all have is what they told you, to be sure this man is away from kids and out of schools,' she said.
Amanda Milkovits can be reached at