Ex-Cohasset teacher found guilty of sexual assault; son calls victim a 'liar'

QUINCY – A Quincy District Court jury Thursday morning found former Cohasset teacher Jeffrey Knight guilty of sexual assault after a student said he inappropriately touched her when she was 13 and 14 years old.

Knight, who was accused of touching the student more than three years ago, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault and battery. He was found not guilty of one count of simple assault and battery.

"It was a difficult case," Judge Mark Coven told the jury after the verdict. "It was an emotional case."

After the verdict, Knight's 32-year-old son jumped out of his seat and yelled, "You're a (expletive) liar" at Knight's accuser, who is now a 17-year-old senior in high school. 

Knight remained stoic as court officers handcuffed him and led him away from a small, packed courtroom on the second floor of Quincy District Court. He had been released on bail pending trial.

His attorney, John McGlone, asked Coven to allow Knight to remain on pretrial release pending the outcome of a Superior Court case, in which Knight was indicted on sexual assault charges brought by a different student. Coven denied the request.

Knight's wife and family, who were in the courtroom every day of the four-day trial, cried after the verdict was read. He faces a maximum of 2½ years in jail on each count. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 13.

Deliberations began Wednesday afternoon and the six-member jury reached a verdict by 11 a.m. Thursday.

In their closing arguments, lawyers offered dueling narratives of what happened between Knight and a young student in a science and engineering classroom at Cohasset Middle-High School. 

Prosecutors said Knight intentionally pressed himself into the girl from behind when she was 13 and 14 years old.

"The evidence showed clearly that the school was not safe for her when she was in (Knight's) class," said Norfolk County Assistant District Attorney Sarah Lelle. 

The Patriot Ledger does not name accusers in sex assault cases. Knight's accuser testified against him in court this week. 

McGlone said his client never approached students from behind. He said "nobody saw anything."

"My client didn't do anything wrong," McGlone said.

Lelle said Knight assaulted the accuser under the guise of helping her with hands-on projects in his science, technology, engineering and math class.

McGlone said the accuser didn't tell school administrators about a sexual assault when she first talked to them in February 2018, and at least two school leaders testified they didn't believe what the student said at the time to be sexual assault. 

More:Witnesses testify in trial of Jeffrey Knight, ex-Cohasset teacher accused of assault

More:'I felt really helpless': Testimony sheds light on accusations against ex-Cohasset teacher

Lelle said that because the victim was a child, she wouldn't have spoken about an assault with such specific language.

"There's no prerequisite for a child to use the term 'sexual assault' for there to be a sexual assault," Lelle said. 

McGlone said the allegations were made amid the rise of "me too," a national reckoning with sexual assault against women in the U.S. 

Knight took the stand in his own defense and said he would never approach a student from behind. Sobbing, Knight said the allegations had taken the career he loved away from him and affected his family. 

"I have nothing to hide," Knight said. 

Former Cohasset Assistant Principal Kerri Sandler said Wednesday that she didn't think the complaints brought forward by the student amounted to sexual assault at the time, and passed the matter on to then-Principal Carolyn Connolly. 

A jury of four women and two men began their deliberations at about 3 p.m. Wednesday. 

The trial began Monday, three years after Knight was first arraigned and not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf. A grand jury declined to indict Knight on the charges in this case.

At the trial, the accuser and her mother testified, as did another student who has accused Knight of sexually assaulting her. A grand jury did indict Knight in that case, which is pending in Norfolk County Superior Court. 

When the allegations first came to light in 2018, it caused an uproar in Cohasset among parents, especially when they learned that three months had elapsed between when the student first notified school administrators and when administrators notified the police. 

Connolly testified in the trial that she didn't understand the full extent of the allegations until May, when police were notified. No charges have been filed for failing to report the allegations to the state's Department of Children and Families, which is required by law.

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Patriot Ledger subscription. 

Joe Difazio can be reached at jdifazio@patriotledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @jldifazio.