Attorney General Peter Neronha and North Kingstown Police Chief Patrick Flanagan have charged former North Kingstown High School basketball coach Aaron Thomas, 55, with child molestation and sexual assault in a case that centered around closed-door “fat testing” of athletes in his office. 

This follows months of investigation, including an 80-page report from former Superior Court Judge Susan McGuirl (find the report HERE). Thomas is to be arraigned Aug. 19 in Washington County Superior Court on one count of second degree child molestation and one count of second degree sexual assault. Officials allege Thomas, while employied at NKHS as a teacher and basketball coach, engaged in sexual contact with two victims. The first count alleges sexual contact with a person under 14 years of age between Sept. 1, 2000, and Feb. 22, 2002.

The second count alleges Thomas engaged in sexual contact with a second victim by force or coercion or while engaging in the medical treatment of the victim for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification or stimulation, between Sept. 1, 2019, and Feb. 22, 2020.

Investigators interviewed more than 30 former students who attended North Kingstown High School from the early 1990s through 2020, as well as teachers, coaches, administrators, and medical professionals.

Thomas was fired in 2021 but went on to be hired by ​​Monsignor Clarke School, a Catholic school in South Kingstown, but was fired after the allegations were made public.

Under Rhode Island law, the statute of limitations for second degree sexual assault is three years, however, there is no statute of limitations for second degree child molestation.

Detective Christopher Mulligan of the North Kingstown Police Department and Assistant Attorney General Timothy Healy and Special Assistant Attorney General Meagan Thomson of the Office of the Attorney General are leading the prosecution and investigation of the case.