Henrico teacher's accuser takes stand during first day of sexual assault trial

The trial of a longtime Short Pump Middle School gym teacher accused of sexually assaulting a student got underway Tuesday in Henrico, with his accuser taking the stand.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kelly Cotting, who is prosecuting the case, painted a picture of the alleged victim as a shy, socially awkward girl who stutters and sometimes vomits when nervous.

Defendant Dean Lakey, on the other hand, was “essentially the king of Short Pump Middle School,” Cotting said. He exploited that dynamic and used his status to make her feel she could never come forward, she said in her opening statement.

The girl was 14 years old when the alleged assault happened. She is now 18. (The Citizen is not naming her because she was a minor at the time of the alleged incident.)

When the alleged victim was questioned on the stand by Cotting on Tuesday, she was shaking, crying and could barely talk at times.

She described Lakey coming into the bathroom at Short Pump Middle School, pushing her onto the sink and assaulting her from behind.

Lakey has denied that he ever touched or had any sexual interaction with the girl. His attorney, Craig Cooley, said that Lakey “couldn’t really” even recall her as one of his students.

Lakey was indicted in August for six felonies: one count of rape, two counts of sodomy, and three counts of indecent liberties with a minor as a custodian. Last week, the charges were amended to one count of indecent liberties and one count of object sexual battery.

(View more coverage from our television partner, WTVR-6, below)

The alleged victim said last year that she was raped by Lakey on several occasions during his gym class when she would leave to use the restroom. The two remaining charges are in relation to a singular instance, which is the first time the alleged victim said she was attacked. She said Tuesday that it was her “strongest testimony.”

The defense focused on the issues of no witnesses, no DNA evidence and no corroboration.

Cooley’s line of questioning Tuesday centered on inconsistencies in the alleged victim’s statement and testimony, a common tactic for the defense in cases in which there is a delay in reporting a sexual assault case.

When the girl claimed the assault happened at Short Pump Middle School, Lakey was coaching basketball at Deep Run High School, Cooley said.

Another inconsistency Cooley noted is that the girl said she was locked in the bathroom and assaulted, yet there is no working lock on that specific bathroom where the attack allegedly occurred. Another noted hole in the claim, Cooley said, is the existence of a gate that separates the gym and nearby bathroom from the rest of the school. The gate goes down around 4 p.m. each day, according to Cooley and an instructional aide at SPMS who testified. The alleged victim said she had never seen the gate before.

The alleged victim repeatedly said Tuesday that there are many things she does not entirely remember because the alleged assault occurred upwards of four years ago.

The girl never wanted to report it to the police, she said.

Her then-boyfriend, who testified Tuesday, said that she used have nightmares about Lakey, and wake up in the middle of the night sweating and shaking. She wouldn’t be able to recognize him, the ex-boyfriend said Tuesday. He also said she was afraid of using public bathrooms.

The couple got into a fight one day, which “boiled over, the boyfriend said, and he told his parents about the girl’s assault. His mother, who is a state mandated reporter of child abuse, reported the alleged incident to Child Protective Services.

The trial will resume before Henrico Circuit Court Judge L.A. Harris at 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday at the Henrico Circuit Court. The trial is expected to end Thursday, and will be decided by the 13 jurors selected Tuesday morning.

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Anna Bryson is the Henrico Citizen’s education reporter and a Report for America corps member. Make a tax-deductible donation to support her work, and RFA will match it dollar for dollar. Sign up here for her free weekly education newsletter.