Which office in the police department will give this guy his
honor back?
Fairfax teacher found not guilty of molesting girl
By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 27, 2010; 2:19 PM
A Fairfax County jury needed only 47 minutes Thursday to
find a popular schoolteacher not guilty of molesting a 12-year-old girl in
their school gym this year.
Sean Lanigan, 43, smiled and tears flowed among his dozens
of supporters in the courtroom as the verdicts were read clearing Lanigan of
charges of aggravated sexual battery and abduction. The case against him hinged
on the testimony of two sixth-grade girls at Centre Ridge Elementary School in
Centreville, who said Lanigan had scooped up one of the girls in the middle of
the school gym, carried her into an equipment room, laid her down on a mat and
massaged her shoulders, groping her in the process.
Lanigan testified Wednesday that he did no such thing. The
married father of three said he treated students the way he treated his
children, picking them up, twirling them around, laughing and joking. He taught
at Centre Ridge for 12 years and coached youth soccer throughout Northern
Virginia for 20 years.
Lanigan and five other people testified that there were no
mats in the equipment room where the girls said he carried one of them. The main
accuser, who acknowledged having a grudge against Lanigan for threatening to
discipline her for her bullying behavior on the school bus patrol, alleged that
Lanigan briefly touched her breast and buttock during the incident.
Jurors said the prosecution had no case, and after reading
their legal instructions, it took the seven women and five men about 10 minutes
to come to their unanimous decision.
"It was an easy decision," said juror Asmaa
al-Ghafari. "I just hope Mr. Lanigan can get his life back."
"There was no evidence," juror Jacklyn West said.
"There was no case."
Lanigan, who was thrilled by the verdict, said his arrest,
suspension without pay and subsequent publicity had destroyed his life. When
his attorney, Peter D. Greenspun, discussed the devastation to Lanigan in his
closing argument, West broke down in tears and the trial was briefly recessed.
West and other jurors said the 12-year-old accuser "had
no idea of the consequences" of accusing Lanigan of molesting her.
"This poor man. That's why I cried."
Fairfax County school officials could not say whether, or
when, Lanigan might be restored to his job as a physical education teacher at
Centre Ridge.
"An innocent man was freed," Lanigan said. "I
knew the truth would finally come out."
He added: "I'm looking forward to getting on the soccer
field with my girls' team, which I'll do tonight. I'd love to come back to
Centre Ridge and teach." He also coached the varsity boys' soccer team at
Herndon High School.
His accuser said the incident happened Jan. 12, and it was
reported to police Jan. 15. Fairfax detectives questioned Lanigan on Jan. 20,
and he was arrested Jan. 29.
Since then, he said, "my life's been an absolute living
hell. Everything I loved to do has been taken away."
But the support of family and friends, including neighbors
and relatives cooking meals or donating gift cards, helped him and his family
survive, Lanigan said. A Facebook page supporting Lanigan has more than 750
members.
He declined to discuss his legal costs but said they were in
the "tens of thousands" of dollars.
After a day of jury selection Monday, jurors heard two days
of testimony, then closing arguments Thursday morning.
To convict Lanigan of aggravated sexual battery of someone
younger than 13, the jury would have had to find that the alleged groping was
"committed with the intent to sexually molest, arouse or gratify any
person, where the defendant intentionally touches the complaining witness's
intimate parts or material clothing covering such intimate parts."
Four jurors said they thought that Lanigan should never have
been arrested. "There wasn't really an investigation," al-Ghafari
said. Greenspun had argued that detectives did not speak to other people in the
school about the accuser or the circumstances she alleged.
"The prosecution didn't have enough evidence,"
juror Jasna Wilson said. "I think it was an injustice."
Jurors said they were gratified by the Lanigan supporters'
emotional response in the courtroom, and some of the jurors spoke to Lanigan
and his family afterward.
Some jurors said they thought that Lanigan's main accuser,
who testified that she feared losing her spots on the safety patrol, the
in-school video news team and the "PE Pals" gym cleanup crew, perhaps
had her own troubles.
"I think she put herself into something she couldn't
find her way out of," al-Ghafari said.
Had enough? Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal
hearings into the police problem in America.
Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a
permanent DOJ office on Police
Misconduct.