Tonya Craft, the former North Georgia kindergarten teacher who was acquitted of 22 counts of child molestation, aggravated sexual battery and aggravated child molestation, will be hosting a talk show on WGOW-FM 102.3 beginning Sept. 7, the station announced Thursday.
The show will be called "The Truth of the Matter" and will air every other Tuesday from 3 to 4 p.m. The show will be produced by Kevin West and will feature Craft talking with callers and with studio and call-in guests discussing criminal cases, civil cases and other topics dealing with the legal system, he said.
According to news director Bill Lockhart, Craft was hired through December, when things will be re-evaluated.
"In metro Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the year 2010, there is one name, one individual, that I think everyone would agree is a household name. (She is) a person that everyone wants to know what they think about, what they are thinking, what makes them tick and that person is Tonya Craft.
"She is very intelligent and articulate and passionate. We are very pleased that she is on our team," Lockhart said.
Craft said in a news conference at the station that she did not ask for the fame that came with her much-publicized trial, but it has given her a platform to speak out for truth and she plans to use it.
"I will do what I feel like is the right thing, no matter who it ticks off," she said. "It's not about me. It's not about this situation. It is about the children and what they go through."
She said she was frustrated when her trial, which should have been an exercise in finding the truth, became more like a game between attorneys.
"It's offensive really. Whenever you go into a trial it's perceived almost as if you are going into a tennis match. Point here. Point there. It's not a game," she said. "People who have been in my situation and sat in my shoes, know it is not a game and it shouldn't be a game to anyone."
The idea for hosting the show came from a discussion with one of her lawyers in Atlanta and she approached WGOW about being involved, she said. She hopes to study to become a lawyer and will be taking the LSAT test in October, she said.
"I am going to focus on a few specific laws. I am working on a national minimal standard for people who forensically evaluate on children. I want to work on that locally, statewide and nationally," she said.
Chickamauga resident Sandy Hunt, who said she followed Craft's trial, said she is excited about the show.
"I think she has a lot to talk about," Hunt said. I think she is a strong person and to me what happened to her could happen to anybody, anywhere, and I am thrilled that she is taking the initiative to change things."