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At North Kingstown (R.I.) Hight School , a well-known basketball coach and a terrible secret
Content note: Sexual assault/abuse of kids
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/10/30/metro/are-you-shy-or-not-shy-north-kingstown-high-school-well-known-basketball-coach-terrible-open-secret/
NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — Former student-athletes at North Kingstown High School say that the body fat tests conducted by longtime basketball coach Aaron Thomas were an uncomfortable open secret that goes back more than 20 years. Even now, they remember his question: “Are you shy, or not shy?”
That meant Thomas, 54, wanted the teenage boys to go to a small janitor’s closet or the little AV room attached to his office. There, alone with Thomas, they would have to remove their clothes and underwear so Thomas could do a “body fat test,” using skinfold calipers to pinch and explore the skin near their scrotum, their groin, and their buttocks, some of Thomas’ former players told The Boston Globe in multiple interviews over the past several months. Some said he would also ask them to do stretches or “duck walks” while naked. One alleged that Thomas did a “hernia check.”
Thomas resigned from North Kingstown High in June, and started working as a social studies teacher at the Monsignor Clarke School in South Kingstown in the fall. On Friday, Monsignor Clarke emailed parents to say that Thomas had been placed on paid administrative leave, WPRI-TV reported.
(snip)
Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office confirmed Friday that they are investigating the case. No criminal charges have yet been brought against Thomas, who did not respond to requests for comment from the Globe.
That meant Thomas, 54, wanted the teenage boys to go to a small janitor’s closet or the little AV room attached to his office. There, alone with Thomas, they would have to remove their clothes and underwear so Thomas could do a “body fat test,” using skinfold calipers to pinch and explore the skin near their scrotum, their groin, and their buttocks, some of Thomas’ former players told The Boston Globe in multiple interviews over the past several months. Some said he would also ask them to do stretches or “duck walks” while naked. One alleged that Thomas did a “hernia check.”
Thomas resigned from North Kingstown High in June, and started working as a social studies teacher at the Monsignor Clarke School in South Kingstown in the fall. On Friday, Monsignor Clarke emailed parents to say that Thomas had been placed on paid administrative leave, WPRI-TV reported.
(snip)
Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office confirmed Friday that they are investigating the case. No criminal charges have yet been brought against Thomas, who did not respond to requests for comment from the Globe.
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