A former Southwest DeKalb High School teacher did not commit a crime when his students stripped and simulated sex acts in his class, a jury ruled Wednesday.
Former chorus teacher Nathan Grigsby was found not guilty of five counts of contributing to the deprivation of a minor. Six jurors – three men and three women – deliberated for about six hours after spending two days listening to testimony in DeKalb County State Court.
After the verdict was read, Grigsby immediately threw his hands in the air before celebrating his victory with his former students, including the three male dancers who also are charged in connection with the dance.
“I wanted my students to understand even when you’re facing a difficult decision, you stand for what is right,” Grigsby said minutes after receiving the verdict.
Students and friends sang “Praise is what I do” as they followed him out of the courtroom.
Much of the trial focused on a 68-second video of the three male students performing in Grigsby’s class in December 2008.
The 46-year-old teacher said he never doubted a favorable verdict, even after jurors took a break from deliberations to watch the video in slow motion. On Wednesday, the jurors spent 30 minutes examining each frame of the dance, pointing at certain parts and taking notes. Throughout, Grigsby stared straight ahead and bit his lower lip.
The video, which was posted on Facebook, showed three male students remove their shirts and dance provocatively while girls screamed. One of the boys dropped his pants. The boys dropped to the floor, gyrated and grabbed female students while simulating various sex acts.
In the back of the video, Grigsby can be spotted briefly watching. Prosecutors argued he was smiling while watching the "Chippendales-style revue." However, Grigsby said the video captured his look of shock when he saw what was going on.
Grigsby told jurors he was helping another student for the bulk of the performance and had his back to the dancers. He wore headphones and claimed he didn't hear the screams or the lewd lyrics.
“As I turned and saw what they were doing, I stopped it,” Grigsby said after the verdict. “I was in the room, but you do have to understand the atmosphere. As a teacher, you can not see everything the whole time.”
The solicitor’s office charged Grigsby after a parent found the video on his son’s Facebook page.
Grigsby testified Tuesday he regretted not alerting administrators to the performance. At the time, he felt justified to punish the students and move on.
Grigsby, who was fired last year, wants his teaching job back now. He currently directs the choir at Agnes Scott College and serves as minister of music at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Lithia Springs.
However, DeKalb school board chairman Tom Bowen said Grigsby will not get his job back. "The level of inappropriate behavior necessary for the district to terminate an employee is less than that which is required to be criminal," Bowen said. "Acquittal of a crime does not mean that the board's decision was incorrect or will in any way be revisited."
The three male dancers, who all graduated last year, testified in support of their teacher, despite facing charges of public indecency and disrupting a public school.
“I’m more than happy; I’m excited,” Jerramy Barnett, one of the dancers, said after the verdict.
Despite the not-guilty verdict, Solicitor-General Robert James said he still plans to move forward with the charges against Barnett, along with dancers Joe’l Shumate and Kiyon Benton.
“There does need to be some accountability,” he said.
James, who prosecuted the Grigsby case, said he still believes a crime was committed by the teacher and the students.
“I don’t second-guess jury verdicts; the jury has spoken,” he said. “Taxpayers’ dollars pay for these teachers and for these children to be educated. Everything but education was going on in that classroom.”
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