Former North Kingstown coach gets probation in ‘naked fat test’ case

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) — Former North Kingstown High School boys’ basketball coach Aaron Thomas has avoided jail time and was sentenced to one year of probation Monday after being convicted on two counts of misdemeanor battery in connection with the “naked fat test” case.

R.I. Superior Court Judge Melanie Wilk Thunberg handed down the sentence at Washington County Superior Court, rejecting prosecutors’ push for prison time.

Thomas’ sentence comes four months after a jury acquitted him of second-degree child molestation and second-degree sexual assault, but found him guilty on two misdemeanor battery charges.

During the 6 week trial, multiple former North Kingstown High School students testified that Thomas required them to strip naked behind closed doors so he could take body measurements and conduct tests.

The scandal first came to light in 2021 through a Target 12 investigation, which revealed Thomas’s long-running “naked fat test.” Earlier that year, Thomas resigned after nearly three decades at the school.

Two former students gave victim impact statements during sentencing, describing the lasting harm caused by Thomas’s conduct with one stating he had “lived in pain and shadows” for years. Thomas apologized for his actions, acknowledging in court that he was wrong in conducting the body-fat measuring tests on hundreds of students over nearly thirty years. “I take complete ownership,” Thomas said. “I realize that I had blinders on.”

Thomas does not have to register as a sex offender and must wait six years before seeking expungement of the misdemeanor charges.