No criminal warrant against Walker County, Ga., horseshoeing school owner

photo Ralph Casey is the owner of Farrier's National Research Center and Horseshoeing School in Villinow, Ga.

The owner of a horseshoeing school in Walker County, Ga., walked away the winner in court after facing a former student who accused him of propositioning her.

Chief Magistrate Sheila Thompson took just a few minutes Monday morning to decide there wasn't cause to issue a criminal warrant against Ralph Casey, the 69-year-old owner of Casey and Son Horseshoeing School.

"The judge threw it out. There wasn't no evidence," Casey said.

Jillian Myers said that Casey drunkenly propositioned her in sexually explicit language just around midnight on Aug. 4 after Myers, then 20, had been at the boarding school only a few days.

Myers said she left the next morning after spending a fearful night with a knife at her side.

Myers and her mother drove five hours from their South Carolina home to seek a warrant against Casey at Monday's hearing.

"Basically, his attorney just said that I wasn't touched, so it wasn't [illegal] in Georgia," Myers said. "I'm disappointed. Until he does touch somebody else and they speak up, he's just going to keep doing it."

Casey, who was represented by LaFayette, Ga., attorney Bill Ryan Jr., said he came to court with an alibi. Casey said he's got motel and golf course receipts showing he was four hours away that night in Hawkinsville, Ga.

Casey said he kicked Myers and an 18-year-old girl from Virginia out for partying around 8 p.m. Then, Casey said, he left around 9 p.m. for his golf trip.

"The only time I was there was to run 'em off," he said.

Casey said he kept quiet about his alibi during newspaper and TV interviews in November when the girls' accusations came to light, because he didn't want to show his hand before the court hearing.

"They didn't know I was gone [that night]," he said.

Casey said the accusations made against him are a smear campaign by female students he has made leave for partying and underage drinking.

"I think [Myers] was mad because she just got to school for two days and she got kicked out," he said.

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