Teacher Acquitted of Molestation Charges

An Orange County jury on Thursday acquitted a Huntington Beach elementary school teacher of molesting six girls, ending a case that divided the community and sparked charges that police had demonized the affectionate expressions of a decent man.

Jeffrey Kent Atkinson, 54, was found not guilty on six of the nine original molestation charges. The other three were dropped by prosecutors during the weeklong trial in Santa Ana.

“I’m glad it’s over and I can carry on with my life,” a shocked Atkinson said after the verdict.

He said that he wasn’t sure if he wants to return to teaching but that he does plan to seek reimbursement for lost wages since the Fountain Valley Unified School District put him on unpaid administrative leave following his October 1998 arrest.

After the verdict, Atkinson’s attorney, Ken Schreiber, criticized prosecutors and police for bringing charges against a man he described as a caring teacher who was loved by students and admired by parents.

“Human everyday kindness and caring is somehow a perversion in their eyes,” he said, referring to law enforcement officials.

Prosecutors were not available for comment.

Atkinson, a 24-year veteran of the school district, was charged with molesting several third-grade girls at William T. Newland Elementary School in Huntington Beach during the 1997-98 school year.

Shortly after his arrest, about 100 supporters, many of them children, held a candlelight vigil outside his Laguna Niguel home. They labeled the allegations a “travesty” and demanded that prosecutors drop the charges.

But prosecutors pressed on. At trial, several girls Atkinson was accused of molesting testified that Atkinson made them feel uncomfortable with back rubs he gave them at various times throughout the school year.

In attacking those claims, the defense focused on casting doubt on police tactics. A father of one of the girls Atkinson was accused of molesting testified that he felt police had coaxed his daughter to say things she didn’t believe.

The father testified that police had led his daughter to say that Atkinson touched her in an inappropriate way. In a blow to the prosecution, the parent did not allow his daughter to testify.

Several other witnesses, including fellow teachers and parents, also vouched for Atkinson’s character.

Some of the girls’ parents were stunned and outraged by the verdict, but other parents said they were not surprised.

Barbara Bottorff, whose daughter was once Atkinson’s student, said she never believed Atkinson abused children. She worried, however, that the case would force teachers to shy away from providing much-needed affection.

“Elementary school children are much more wanting to be touched and patted on the shoulder,” she said. “Unfortunately, you have to be careful even if you don’t have bad intentions.”