A former Hamilton County elementary school teacher groomed the community into thinking he was a good person, so he could gain greater access to children in order to sexually assault them, Hamilton County prosecutor Nicole Evans argued Wednesday.
“This is not a time for sympathy,” she told jurors during closing arguments.
Duane Sanders, 47, is charged with one count of aggravated rape of a child, seven counts of aggravated sexual battery and seven counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child.
Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman’s courtroom was packed with over 50 people, including the parents of the seven alleged victims and Sanders’ supporters, who watched nearly three hours of closing arguments.
Jurors began weighing the evidence in the case against Sanders shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday. Sanders decided not to take the stand in his own defense.
While working as a first grade teacher at Ooltewah’s Wallace A. Smith Elementary School, he allegedly abused 6- and 7-year-old children from 2021 to 2023.
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All seven victims were boys and most of them had ADHD, Evans said. Some were in different classes, and some were in different years.
Sanders was recognized by Hamilton County Schools as an HCS Hero in April 2021. He worked with students before and after school in extracurricular leadership roles, including the school’s safety patrol and an after-school tutoring group, according to trial testimony.
He allegedly chose a secluded classroom at the back of the school with partially shuttered windows facing the woods. There were no other classes near his section of the hallway, and his doors were kept locked, Evans said. He would allegedly have kids sit in his lap during class, even ones he didn’t abuse, in an attempt to normalize the behavior.
The school principal, Kelley Weiss, told Sanders not to have children sit on his lap in fall 2022, specifically to avoid concerns such as these, Evans said.
Evans played clips of the boys’ forensic interviews to the jurors.
Each child reported a similar version of events of having their genitals touched over or under clothes while sitting on his lap in his classroom, the footage shows. One boy described Sanders performing oral sex on him.
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Most adults would be uncomfortable taking the stand to recount their last consensual sexual experience to jurors, Evans said. She asked them to imagine how it felt for the children to testify about someone they loved and looked up to taking advantage of them.
Abusers don’t walk around with a pin on their shirt that warns others they are abusers, Evans said.
“They experienced every touch,” Evans said. “They felt it. They saw it.”
And they were brave enough to come forward, she said.
Sanders’ public defender, Jay Perry, said during closing arguments the allegations against his client are terrible.
“It’s hard to be a juror,” Perry said. “It’s hard to listen to allegations of these kinds.”
Sanders starting working as a district teacher in 2009, Perry said. He was a substitute teacher and a full-time teacher at Eastside Elementary School before moving to Wallace A. Smith.
These accusations weren’t made until Sanders had been in his sixth full year of teaching, Perry said.
The children’s statements allegedly had issues and inconsistencies. For example, one of the boys said Sanders touched him over 200 times, Perry said, which is more occurrences than school days in the year.
Perry asked the jury to acquit Sanders on all charges.
Sanders, who has five children of his own ranging from about 12 to 25 years old, is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole if found guilty of aggravated rape.
The jury is expected to continue deliberations Thursday morning.
Contact Sofia Saric at ssaric@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.