A former Ritchie County High School teacher was found not guilty in a sexual abuse trial last week.
David Peter Weekley had been indicted by a grand jury on five counts in June, including two counts of second degree sexual assault, two counts of sexual abuse by a parent, guardian, custodian or person in a position of trust to a child and one count of first degree sexual abuse.
Two male students accused Weekley, of Pennsboro, of sexually abusing them on school grounds.
Circuit Judge Timothy Sweeney confirmed that Weekley was found not guilty on Friday afternoon after a week-long trial. He said the jury deliberated for about an hour.
The court dismissed counts one and three - second degree sexual assault and first degree sexual abuse - with prejudice, meaning the charges cannot be filed again. The jury found Weekley not guilty on the other counts.
Asked how he was doing Monday afternoon, Weekley said, "I'm doing a lot better to be honest with you."
Weekley said he was suspended without pay 19 months ago.
"February 7 is when the allegations came out, and Friday was when I was finally vindicated," he said. "I'll be honest with you. I'm still kind of in a whirlwind about it. It took me 19 months to get into the position I'm in emotionally. It's not going to be something I'm going to recover from in a weekend, nor are my family, friends or my son."
Weekley said he has "no interest whatsoever in going back to the Ritchie County school system" but doesn't know if he will return to education.
"However, I haven't made a decision on whether I will ever feel comfortable in my career as a teacher ever again, so I really don't know the answer to that question," he said. "I'm sorry."
Weekley said he wouldn't speculate as to the boys' reason for making the claims.
Many people from Ritchie County were openly supportive of Weekley on social media.
"My family and friends have been phenomenal," he said. "A lot of people have been very supportive - not everyone but for the most part, everyone's been pretty good to me."
Weekley's lawyer, Judith McCullough, also said she didn't know why the boys would have lied, although she said one of them has a history of lying, and one of the boys could have been worried about Weekley's new grading policy that would have resulted in four zeros for the student on Feb. 7. She said several members of the jury apologized to Weekley for the ordeal as they filed out of the courtroom.
"I am thrilled beyond belief to have it over with and over with in the right way," McCullough said. "It was a pretty good day."
Ed Toman, Ritchie County superintendent, sent a statement in response to a request for an interview.
"The Board of Education is aware of the recent acquittal of Mr. Weekley who was previously employed by the Board," the statement said. "The Board doesn't believe that it's in anyone's best interest to make any substantive statement in response to the verdict, or make a statement about a former employee. Instead the Board is focused on the continued expectations of excellence from our current staff and students, and continuing to ensure the safety and well-being of our children."
While it does happen, lying about sexual assault is not common. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center reports that a review of research found that the prevalence of false reporting is about 2 percent to 10 percent.
Reach Erin Beck at
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