Rhode Island high school coach who did naked fat tests sentenced to year of probation

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island judge on Monday sentenced a former high school basketball coach to a year of probation 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.

Earlier this year, a jury found Aaron Thomas not guilty of second-degree child molestation and second-degree sexual assault in a case that scrutinized the so-called naked fat tests conducted by the once-beloved coach at North Kingstown High School. Instead, Thomas was found guilty of a lesser charge, two counts of misdemeanor battery.

Superior Court Judge Melanie Wilk Thunburg handed down the sentence Monday.

Throughout the nearly six-week trial, defense attorneys for Thomas argued the tests 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.

Prosecutors maintained Thomas created and implemented a program that allowed him to have unfettered access to young naked boys for decades.

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.

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.