Thomas R. Fell wants his job, and his life, back.
Fell, 27, was found not guilty Wednesday of sexually abusing a 16-year-old student while they were alone together in his Copper Hills High School classroom on Nov. 5 of last year.The five-man, three-woman jury acquitted Fell on a charge of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.
"I want my job back," Fell told the Deseret News moments after the jury announced its verdict. "We've been put through hell these last six months, and I'm so relieved to find out that the truth came out. Maybe I'll have my first good night's sleep in six months."
Fell, in his second year as a history teacher and assistant football coach at the school when the allegation was made Nov. 16, was relieved of his duties by Jordan School District Dec. 23 following an internal investigation.
The girl, now 17, testified that Fell fondled her and tried to kiss her. The defense argued the girl had a history of telling lies and her testimony could not be trusted.
A witness called to the stand Wednesday said the girl recently told her a more elaborate version of the alleged incident that involved an attempted rape and a rescue by a scissors-wielding classmate.
Other teachers and students who knew the girl testified she was not trustworthy.
"Her story didn't make sense. We had quite a bit of evidence that this was not a trustworthy person," said defense attorney Walter Bugden.
"Sadly, teenagers tell stories to get attention, and some attention is better than no attention. And then some lies that you tell are so big that the consequences of taking them back make it impossible to tell the truth and to admit that you've lied."
Prosecutor James Cope told jurors the girl had nothing to gain by making up a story about Fell, a teacher she liked and had assisted on several occasions.
"The issue isn't is she a liar or has she told lies, but is she telling the truth about this," were among Cope's last remarks to the jury. "The question is not whether people lie but what they lie about and why they lie. . . . Denial is the simplest form of a lie."
Fell told the jury nothing happened during the "six minutes in the time warp," as Cope put it, when the two were alone together.
Fell said he has "nothing" to say to the student who made the allegation, but he said he does not hold a grudge.
"I'm angry at what my family has gone through," he said. "(But) I can't have my life consumed by this. My family and I are going to pick up the pieces and we're going to move on with our lives."
He and his wife will celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary and their son's first birthday next month.
"I just feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders," he said.
Fell said he is "very upset" at the school district, which fired him without "fully investigating the situation," he said.
"I think they tried sweeping it under the rug and taking it off their shoulders," he said. "They tried getting rid of me without cause, as was proven today."
Fell and his lawyer will discuss what, if any, action to take against the school district, Fell said. He has been working construction since December.
A spokeswoman for the school district said the matter is under review by the district's legal counsel, but would make no other comment.
"We think that the school district was very unfair to dismiss this man before he had his day in court," Bugden said. "The school district made it very difficult for us to defend this teacher. I believe that they actively intimidated teachers from coming forward and trying to help Mr. Fell."
But, "a number of teachers were not intimidated, did the right thing, and stepped forward and gave important testimony in this trial."
The girl admitted she forged a note from her mother to get out of another class that day but said she did not do so with the intent of visiting Fell's classroom. She also admitted telling lies to win friends several years earlier.