Courtesy of Gregory J. Lamoureux/County Courier
Matthew Toof coaching basketball at Bellows Free Academy-St. Albans in February 2020
A jury found a former Georgia middle school teacher not guilty of sexual assault following a three-day trial.
Matthew Toof had been accused of repeatedly assaulting a former student over several years. But a Franklin County jury took less than three hours to acquit Toof last Friday after hearing testimony from the alleged victim and others,
WCAX-TV reported. Toof also took the stand, calling the allegations against him "ludicrous,"
according to the Saint Albans Messenger.
Toof was on trial for repeated aggravated sexual assault of a child, as well as lewd and lascivious conduct with a child. He faced at least 25 years and up to life in prison if convicted.
The former student said Toof had abused her for five years, beginning shortly after she was an 11-year-old student in his math class at Georgia Elementary and Middle School. Several staff members at the school filed reports with the Vermont Department for Children and Families in 2016 after witnessing Toof hold hands with the student and embrace her. She came forward with assault claims in 2021, and Toof was charged shortly after. The school district then fired him, Toof's attorney, Robert Kaplan, said.
At trial, witnesses described an affair between Toof and the girl's mother that lasted several years,
the Messenger reported. The girl alleged that the abuse continued after a breakup between her mother and Toof, the paper reported.
In a statement on Monday, Kaplan said the "complex" relationship between Toof and the girl's mother was "undoubtably a factor weighing on the credibility of the allegations." Kaplan said Toof suffered from a "rush to judgment" by law enforcement and others.
"At the end of the day, Mr. Toof is grateful to the jurors for their time and attention in getting to the correct verdict," Kaplan said.
Franklin County deputy state's attorney Diane Wheeler did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.