Image Credit: Hamilton County Jail & Canva
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
The case of a former Hamilton County elementary school teacher who is accused of sexually abusing several male students began before a jury on Wednesday.
Duane Sanders taught first grade at Wallace A. Smith Elementary School. He had previously worked or volunteered at four other Hamilton County Schools: East Brainerd Elementary, Westview Elementary, East Side Elementary, and Wolftever Elementary.
Sanders was arrested in 2022 after the suspected sexual abuse of several male students. He was later indicted on a total of 19 different charges involving as many as a dozen children.
According to testimony, Sanders would reward students by having them sit on his lap, where students later reported he would pull down their pants and touch them. Prosecutors said that he was “routinely and systematically committing in the secrecy of his classroom.”
Testimony was given by parents of victims as well as school principal Dr. Kelly Weiss. Weiss recounted an incident where she reprimanded Sanders after observing him with a child sitting in his lap, telling him that he needed to avoid that in the future because she “didn’t want someone to accuse him of something.”
Defense attorneys asked the jury to pay attention to “contradictory statements, the changing details, vague recollections, evasive answers, the leading questions…”
Charges against Sanders include continuous sexual abuse of a child and aggravated sexual battery. The trial will continue in Chattanooga.
Sources:
Forensic Interviews From Child Sex Abuse Victims Of Former Hamilton County Teacher Shown In Court
