Former high school coach to face fifth day on stand in ‘naked fat test’ trial

WAKEFIELD, R.I. (WLNE) — Aaron Thomas will be back on the stand today to testify for a fifth day in his sexual assault trial.

The former basketball coach at North Kingstown High School will continue to be cross-examined by prosecutors.

“Are you shy or are you not shy? That’s the question, right? The question you have asked hundreds of high school boys for years,” asked the prosecution.

Thomas admitted to prosecutors on cross-examination Wednesday he did not fully comply with an investigation that began back in 2018.

Prosecutors questioned Thomas on the language he used with the student-athletes, and asked why his consent form was not clear students would be nude for the fat test.

“Over the years there were students who were confused by that question, yes. You could have asked them if they wanted to be clothed or not clothed. You chose to ask them shy or not shy? That was the question I asked, yes,” said Thomas.

Back in 2022 Thomas pled not guilty after a months-long investigation into allegations against him by both North Kingstown police and the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office.

He is charged with one count of second-degree child molestation and one count of second-degree sexual assault.

The prosecutor said Thomas knew students could have done the test with clothing on based on research, and the the question from the prosecution’s side was why did he continue to ask students to strip for the fitness test?

“I was set in my ways. I don’t want to call it arrogance, but I was being arrogant about it. That this was working. It was producing the results we wanted. I was hearing no negative feedback, so I just kept going,” said Thomas.