As former students sue over naked 'fat tests' at the hands of Aaron Thomas, judge tapped to preside

PROVIDENCE – Lawsuits by former students involving "fat-testing" allegations against former North Kingstown basketball coach Aaron Thomas will be presided over by a single judge as they work their way through court.

Superior Court Presiding Justice Alice B. Gibney has assigned Judge William E. Carnes Jr. to oversee cases relating to allegations against Thomas, the longtime coach accused of conducting naked “fat testing” on legions of teenage male athletes at the high school.

Carnes, who is now seated in Newport County Superior Court, will manage lawsuits brought by at least two former students against Thomas and school officials over claims related to the fat testing and allegations that administrators turned a blind eye to misconduct complaints. Timothy Conlon, the lawyer representing the former students, said last week there will be more lawsuits to come.

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"There's really no question there's going to be more litigation," Conlon said.

The cases are in the very early stages, with discovery yet to come, according to lawyers involved. Mark Reynolds, who is representing the town, declined comment, as did Marc DeSisto, lawyer for the school officials.

“All of the attorneys recognize the benefit of having a single judge,” handling the cases in the interest of judicial efficiency, said Timothy Conlon, the lawyer representing the former students.

The Aaron Thomas case so far

Thomas resigned in 2021 as he was about to be fired by the North Kingstown School Committee and controversy erupted over the district’s handling of allegations facing the once championship coach.

Thomas, 55, has long denied that he did anything inappropriate, but Attorney General Peter F. Neronha's office charged him last year with second-degree child molestation and second-degree sexual assault for allegedly engaging in "sexual contact" with two teenagers while he worked as a teacher and basketball coach.

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Thomas "adamantly denies that any criminal activity took place," according to his lawyer, John E. MacDonald. He has pleaded not guilty to the felony charges.

The district faces lawsuits from former students over allegations involving Thomas, as well as an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office based on claims that school officials failed to respond to misconduct complaints.

Last April, a former high school student and his father sued past and present school department officials, alleging they failed to protect students from Thomas and his practice of privately “fat testing” athletes, using calipers to measure fat content of the upper inner thighs. They argue that the student “sustained emotional distress and mental suffering” as a result of harmful and offensive touching.

Months later, a second former student at North Kingstown High School sued present and past school officials “for personal injuries,” claiming they failed to protect him from the “inappropriate conduct and exploitation”  by Thomas.

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Thomas began coaching the North Kingstown High School boys basketball team in the late 1990s, building the Skippers into one of the state's top programs through 23 seasons. The team won the state championship in 2019, logging a 22-3 record.

During his coaching career, Thomas conducted body fat tests on undressed athletes, some of whom have said they stripped naked while alone with him after he asked if they were “shy or not shy.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Lawsuits grow against NK over Coach Aaron Thomas' alleged naked 'fat tests'