Nephi, Utah: Words can’t describe how Hadley Christensen felt Friday, the day after a jury acquitted the former Juab County fifth-grade teacher of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl.
He felt relief, he said, and immeasurable joy.
"The last 19 months of my life have been constantly overshadowed by the threat of going to prison for a crime I did not commit," Christensen said Friday in a written statement. "As a person who has devoted his life to building up the lives of the young people I have had the privilege to work with, having my name sullied by those accusations have hurt me deep."
Christensen was charged in January 2013 with aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, accused of inviting a former student who he had taught the year before to his home on Dec. 22, 2013, and sexually assaulting her.
Christensen’s attorney, Dallas Young, said Friday that the former student was a friend of Christensen’s daughter, and was at the home for a sleepover that night.
"We’re just ecstatic that the jury saw it for what it is," Young said. "We didn’t believe it was a case that ever should have been prosecuted. The evidence was thin on its very best day."
Christensen testified in his own defense at trial, telling the jury that he was innocent, Young said.
"From day one, Hadley has maintained his innocence," Young said. "I’m not going to venture into why and how the accusations [from the girl] came about."
Prosecutors did not return a phone call seeking comment Friday.
Christensen, who taught at Red Cliffs Elementary School in Nephi, had worked for the district for 11 years. He had been on unpaid leave since December 2012, according to Juab School District Superintendant Rick Robins.
It's not clear whether Christensen will return to teaching, or whether he will be compensated for the past year and a half that he was suspended. There is, unfortunately, no indication what he did to support his family while suspended.
There is a significant improvement in the prosecution of pedophiles this year, but the down-side of that is some people are going to get caught up in malicious charges that have a devastating effect on their careers and their lives. That appears to be the case here.
He felt relief, he said, and immeasurable joy.
Christensen was charged in January 2013 with aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, accused of inviting a former student who he had taught the year before to his home on Dec. 22, 2013, and sexually assaulting her.
Christensen’s attorney, Dallas Young, said Friday that the former student was a friend of Christensen’s daughter, and was at the home for a sleepover that night.
"We’re just ecstatic that the jury saw it for what it is," Young said. "We didn’t believe it was a case that ever should have been prosecuted. The evidence was thin on its very best day."
Christensen testified in his own defense at trial, telling the jury that he was innocent, Young said.
"From day one, Hadley has maintained his innocence," Young said. "I’m not going to venture into why and how the accusations [from the girl] came about."
Prosecutors did not return a phone call seeking comment Friday.
It's not clear whether Christensen will return to teaching, or whether he will be compensated for the past year and a half that he was suspended. There is, unfortunately, no indication what he did to support his family while suspended.
There is a significant improvement in the prosecution of pedophiles this year, but the down-side of that is some people are going to get caught up in malicious charges that have a devastating effect on their careers and their lives. That appears to be the case here.
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