Overview

• Aaron Thomas, a former North Kingstown High School coach, was convicted of misdemeanor battery but acquitted of second-degree child molestation and sexual assault charges after a six-week trial.
• The charges stemmed from Thomas’s self-designed body-fat tests, which involved asking teenage boys to strip and endure invasive measurements over nearly three decades.
• Prosecutors argued Thomas exploited his authority to conduct inappropriate tests, while the defense maintained the tests were misguided but not criminal.
• Thomas admitted to lying to school officials and police about the nature of the tests and acknowledged that removing underwear was unnecessary.
• The verdict has reignited debates over Rhode Island's statute of limitations for assault cases, with calls to extend it to better protect survivors of abuse.