Teacher Acquitted of Molest Charges

A jury Thursday acquitted a Santa Ana elementary school teacher on charges that he molested three students, closing a controversial case that tested the boundaries between affectionate and inappropriate touching.

Jerome Thompson Wilhoit, 37, now a minister, quietly shed tears as the jury pronounced the verdict. Wilhoit, who was arrested in May 1998, later described the morning as the “555th day of my ordeal” and said he simply wants to move on with his life.

“I hope this case will allow more dialogue in similar [allegations] in the future,” Wilhoit said. “People are overworked and oversuspicious in our day and age.”

Wilhoit was accused of whisking a girl off her feet and blowing on her stomach, kissing another girl on the mouth and massaging her back. Another girl accused Wilhoit of touching her inappropriately.

Prosecutors said the incidents amounted to sexual gratification. But his attorney and supporters--including parents and many of his students--maintained that the teacher was simply being affectionate and showing concern for the children.

The case gained statewide attention because it cut to the heart of a debate within education circles about teacher-student contact.

It’s the third Orange County child molestation case in the last two months to end in acquittal or dismissal of charges.

Two weeks ago, a Huntington Beach elementary school teacher was acquitted on charges that he molested six of his students. In October, the prosecution dropped charges against a former El Toro High School track coach when a second jury failed to reach a verdict on whether he molested his athletes.

“The jury disagreed with our case, and we respect [jurors] for that,” said Assistant Dist. Atty. Richard King, who heads the sexual assault unit. “These are difficult cases. We will learn from our experiences, but if a case is presented to us and if there is sufficient evidence for a conviction, we will prosecute.”

But Kenneth L. Schreiber, who represented the teacher in the Huntington Beach case, said that local investigators and prosecutors are overzealous.

“They are trying to make a case without looking at the reality of the situation,” Schreiber said. “It creates an atmosphere in which people are so sensitized that they are taking decent, caring conduct and perverting it.”

Wilhoit was a first-year teacher and vice president of the PTA at Wallace R. Davis Elementary School when he was arrested.

In the wake of the arrest, many came to his support. At one point, a judge hearing his case received 150 letters from parents, teachers and students praising Wilhoit for being a caring and enthusiastic teacher.

But a judge later decided there was enough evidence for a trial, swayed in part by evidence that an administrator had earlier warned Wilhoit to curb his touching.

After rendering the not-guilty verdicts Thursday, one juror in Wilhoit’s case said Thursday she saw him as a gentle, caring teacher.

“I went to Catholic school all my life,” the juror said. “See, we never had the nurturing that he’s trying to give these children. . . . I would have liked to have seen it with my kids.”

Santa Ana police spokesman Sgt. Raul Luna stood by his department’s investigation.

“We take every case on the basis of its merits,” he said. “We respect the jury’s decision in this case, but it will not change our standards or the manner in which we conduct our investigations.”

Wilhoit was fired from his job without pay after the allegations surfaced. He has since become a pastor at the Good Samaritan Church in Westminster.

“I feel like God has given me great endurance and strength through all this,” Wilhoit said. “The storm of life has helped us grow.”