HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- A Henrico jury found former Short Pump Middle School teacher Dean Lakey not guilty of sexually assaulting a student.
A jury of seven women and five men took about three hours to reach the not guilty verdict on the five charges Lakey faced.
"HCPS Human Resources continues its internal investigation and review of testimony provided as part of the court case. During that time, Mr. Lakey will remain on leave," a statement from Henrico Schools read.
The not guilty verdict comes months after Lakey's first trial was declared a mistrial when the jury could not reach a unanimous decision on the charges.
The accuser, who was 12 at the time of the alleged 2017 incidents, took to the witness stand in the first trial and said Lakey sexually assaulted her in a bathroom several hours after school had ended for the day.
Lakey, 60,took to the witness stand in his own defense and denied all the charges against him.
During his first trial, Lakey's attorney Craig Cooley told the jury that his client did not touch, much less, rape anyone.
He said that he would show that at the time of the alleged assault, Lakey would have been at another school coaching soccer. He added that the bathroom where it allegedly happened would have been inaccessible by the victim because a gate blocked off access to it at the time. He also asked the jurors to pay attention to differing accounts of what the victim said happened.
He added that during Lakey's 37 years as a teacher and coach he came across thousands of kids, but there was only this one accusation.
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