After a long and arduous trial that has been packed with drama and corruption, Kindergarten teacher Tonya Craft has been cleared of all 22 charges filed against her, including child molestation, aggravated sexual battery and aggravated child molestation.
There were cheers outside the courtroom from Crafts supporters when the verdict was read, but Craft simply wept.
“The amazing ordeal with the corruption that caught up these little girls and this wonderful woman has begun to end with a verdict from 12 people honest and true,” Demosthenes Lorandos, Craft’s attorney said.
But it won’t really be over for Craft until she gets her children back. She lost custody of her two children after her arrest in 2008. ”Until I get my children, I won’t have my heart back.” Craft said.
Lorandos and Craft’s other attorneys have contacted the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office about what they believe to be fraudulent behavior on the part of Judge Brian House and the Catoosa County district attorney’s office during the case. Apparently House represented Craft’s ex-husband in the couple’s divorce in the 1990′s Craft’s attorneys asked him to recuse himself, but he refused to step down. Given the fact that part of Craft’s accuser’s motivation for their attacks seems to have been seeking vengeance for her behavior towards her ex-husband, this relationship seems all the more improper.
Craft told the Today Show that the “absolute hardest thing that [she'd] ever experienced” was watching her daughter testify for the prosecution against her during the trial.
“My job as a mother is to protect her,” Craft told Meredith Vieira. “It absolutely broke my heart to see that my daughter had been pretty much indoctrinated to believe things that weren’t true.”
i DONT believe she shouldve been cleared for that. she disgusts me with what she has done and i couldnt forgive that. And for all of her supporters, i cant believe you think its okay to perform these acts on a child! Think about your own kids!! you’d let someone off the hook if they did that to your child? Wow. Im appauled.
Everyone knows the truth SHE IS INNOCENT & you are probably the mother of one of the girls & i hope these girls pay for their wrong acts, in fact i hope all girls who make false allegations pay for their lies.