Craft found not guilty
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
RINGGOLD, Ga. - Tonya Craft has been found not guilty on all 22 counts of child molestation, aggravated child molestation and aggravated sexual battery.
The jury returned the verdict after a day of deliberation.
Ms. Craft, a 37-year-old former kindergarten teacher in Chickamauga, was charged with child molestation based on the accounts of three alleged victims.
During the four-week trial, however, the little girls' stories were called into question during cross-examination by the defense team.
At times the trial became contentious, with the defense using elaborate timelines on posterboards to poke holes in the case and the prosecution accusing the defense of playing to the media.
Some of the families and friends of the alleged victims waited in a room set aside for them in the courthouse.
See tomorrow's Times Free Press for complete coverage.
